


Happy Together

by Katiebug445



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Depressed Sam, M/M, Teenage!AU, death mention, lucifer is a creepy asshole, self deprecating thoughts, side pairing destiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 02:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 44,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5988673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katiebug445/pseuds/Katiebug445
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam is a depressed teen who doesn't have anywhere he can really turn. His mother and brother both work, his father is overseas, and his friends have their own lives and he doesn't want to burden any of them. So, he starts looking for other options. What he finds is a summer camp that deals specifically with teens with depression and anxiety, and he decides to go. The counselor in charge of he and his bunkmates is Gabriel Milton, a happy-go-lucky, overly helpful and very friendly kid, and not someone Sam wants to associate with. Over the summer, things change, and Sam realizes Gabe isn't as happy as he makes himself out to be, and the two boys are caught up in a romance neither of them expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam Winchester sat on the curb outside of his school, waiting for his brother to pick him up. Dean was late, as per usual, and Sam had been sitting there for close to an hour. His friend Andy had sat with him for a few moments while he waited for his mother, and Jessica had said goodbye on her way home, but ultimately Sam was left waiting alone. He sat there for another twenty minutes, occasionally checking his phone to make sure he didn't miss his brother messaging him to tell him he was on his way or he would be late, before he finally got tired of doing nothing and walked home. He was tired, it was boiling hot, and Sam was annoyed beyond belief.  

 

His parents had divorced almost five years ago to the day. They had little contact with John, especially since he’d had been deployed to Iran the previous November. Mary and Dean both worked two jobs, just to ensure they had money enough for bills, which meant Sam was, more often than not, left alone. 

 

When you're sixteen and are going through enough of your own things, it isn't necessarily a bad thing to be left by yourself. Though, after years of pretty much being his own best friend, it had gotten tiring. He missed his family. He missed how things were when he and Dean were younger and the only thing they had to worry about was assignments and who could kick whose ass at video games. 

 

~

 

There was nobody there when he finally got home, and Sam settled himself in for another night by himself. He fixed himself something to eat, and sat down to watch TV until he fell asleep, which ended up being almost 30 minutes after he initially got in. 

 

Mary found him curled up on the couch, knocked out cold, when she arrived home at 6:30. She sighed, shook her head, and quietly made her way into the living room. It wasn't exactly like Sam to sleep like this, especially during the school year. He was in bed early every night, and seemed to be fine in the mornings when he got up, but more often than not he was asleep by the time she got home in the evenings, slept until dinner was ready, did homework, and then was back asleep by 10 every night. 

 

She covered her youngest son with a blanket, flipped off the TV, and then wandered into the kitchen to start something for dinner. 

 

~

 

Dean got off work almost an hour later, and arrived back at the house in time to see his mother just finishing up with her food. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but after noticing Sam asleep, quietly kicked off his boots and wandered into the dining room. "Hey." He said quietly, grabbing his own plate and sitting down to eat. 

 

"I want to talk to you about your brother." Mary whispered, taking the seat across from her oldest son. "Something's wrong with him, Dean. He's always asleep when I get home, and he's angry, and disrespectful when he's awake. That's not like him." She glanced out into the living room, where Sam lay on the couch, and cradled her chin in her palm with a sad look on her face. "I don't like it." 

 

Dean took a bite of his food as he thought. "Maybe he's depressed?" He offered. "Or maybe he's just being a teenager. Hormones, girls, trying to decide if it's worth masturbating in your room and run the risk of getting caught, angsty, teenage bullshit. It takes a lot out of a guy. I remember being fifteen."  Mary shot him a pained look, and Dean's smile fell. "I'm kidding about the masturbating thing. But seriously, Mom, I think you're worrying over nothing. He's just being a teenager." 

 

Mary patted her son on the hand before getting up for something to drink, knowing Dean was probably right, but electing to still talk to Sam about it later. "I'm still gonna talk to him, I think." She announced. "Maybe it's nothing, but I'm not willing to leave it at 'maybe'." 

 

"You got me for moral support." Dean chuckled.

 

~

 

The following Saturday was somewhat of a rarity around the Winchester household. Dean and Mary both had the day off, and Sam wasn't feeling up for a day out with friends, so he was up in his room. It was the perfect time, Mary decided, to talk to him. She approached Dean early that morning, and together, they devised a plan. 

 

Around noon, Mary went to wake him up. After a few minutes of prodding, she finally convinced Sam to come down for breakfast, and once he looked awake enough, they decided it was time to address the issue.

 

"Sam," Mary started, setting her own fork down and staring across the table at her youngest. "Your brother and I want to talk to you about something." 

 

"You're not getting divorced, are you?" Sam asked jokingly, though there was an edge to his voice . Dean shot his brother a look, but Sam paid no attention to him.

 

Mary took a breath, stalling for a moment and regathering her nerve, and cleared her throat. "We've been noticing changes in your attitude recently. And your sleeping habits. And you never go out with your friends anymore... We're concerned something might be wro--" 

 

Sam shot to his feet, glaring daggers at his mother, and interrupted her. "Oh,  _ now _ you're concerned?! What about after Dad left, and I was only able to see him every other weekend? Or when he got shipped out, and now I have to worry about him dying, every time the phone rings or I check the mail?! Or what about after he left, you two picked up later shifts, or second jobs, and I had to be left alone ninety percent of the time?! Where was this concern when it actually might have made a difference?!" Sam stormed off back up the stairs to his room, taking care to slam the door as hard as he could behind him. 

 

Mary exhaled and cradled her face in her hands, trying to calm herself down before she started crying. In that moment, it felt like everything was crashing around her, like she was losing what little bit of her family she had left. She didn’t know what she’d do with herself if something happened to one of her kids, that she’d neglected to notice they were hurting, that she couldn’t fix it for them.

 

She heard the legs of a chair squeak, and then an arm was around her shoulders, comforting her and offering what little support he could. "It's okay, Mom." Dean promised in a hushed voice. "Things are gonna be okay." 

 

Mary did lose it, then, tears slipping down her cheeks and her shoulders shaking harder than she could remember them doing in a long time. Dean continued trying to offer comfort, but it did little to calm her now that she'd allowed herself to finally get this out. 

~

 

Sam fell down onto his bed after effectively telling his mother off, and glared up at his ceiling. He couldn't believe they had the nerve to say that. They were worried! It was almost laughable to him. The signs had been there since his dad left, and now, when things were pretty much at their peak and too late to fix it, they wanted to step in. Unbelievable. 

 

Sam laughed to himself at the ridiculousness of the situation, and decided it might be better for him to lock his door in case his brother decided to come scream at him for the pain he'd probably caused their mother. Whatever, she deserved it. She didn't care enough when it mattered, so why not take it out on her some? 

 

His heart was hammering in his chest like a jackhammer, and he could swear he could feel his pulse in all of the pressure points in his body pounding away. His hands shook, and his vision blurred, and after a few more moments of stewing in his anger, Sam broke down. 

  
Deep down, he knew it wasn't really Mary's fault for what all happened; John had been the one to cheat, and father another child. He was the one that screwed up, not her.  


 

 

It wasn't right for him to blame her for everything. Mary was doing what she could to keep them together, even if she wasn't around that much. She was still his mother, and he knew he should have been thankful she was showing concern at all. 

Sam closed his eyes and sniffled, taking steadying breaths to calm himself now that he'd cried everything out. 

 

He knew he needed to apologize and set things as right as they could be again, but he didn't want to right yet. He was afraid to go back down there and deal with his brother screaming at him, or see the pain he'd inflicted on his mom. He decided to wait until later that evening, or wait until Mary was home from work before trying again. Maybe he'd get lucky and they'd have another day tomorrow. 

~

Dean stayed right with his mother as she cried herself out, wanting her to know she did have support in this house. He understood Sam's point, he really did, but it wasn't right for him to take it out on their mom. He sighed, and looked up towards the stairs, wishing they could go back to when times were easier, and they could be a happy, functional family again. 

 

After getting the okay from Mary that she was okay, and dismissed him, Dean went down to the basement, to his own room, and called his best friend - a boy who worked with him at the library - Castiel to tell him about the events of the day and maybe get some advise. Cas was a bit on the awkward, quieter side of life, but he listened, and always said insightful things. He was a voice of reason to call Dean back when he wanted to fly off the handle. 

*** 

"Mom?" 

Mary was woken up early the next morning to Sam standing in her doorway looking small and sheepish. She yawned and sat up, running a hand back through her hair as she stared at her youngest son. "What is it, sweetie?" She asked. 

 

Sam swallowed and cast his eyes to the floor, his nerve all but lost, and leaned heavily on the door frame. "I - I wanted to say... I'm sorry for last night." 

Mary blinked as she registered what he was saying, and then shook her head. "Sammy," she started, motioning for him to come over to her, "honey, you don't really have anything to be sorry for.  _ I'm _ the one who needs to apologize. I know things have been... difficult since your dad left, and I haven't been making it much easier being gone as much as I am, and your brother is gone just as much. I know it's not been easy." 

Sam slowly made his way over to his mother's bed and sat down on the edge, tears filling his eyes as she spoke. "I know it's not your fault." he mumbled. "I didn't mean to take it out on you. It's not your fault Dad left, and you're doing what you can to make up for it. It was wrong, and I'm sorry, Mom." 

 

"Don't worry about it." Mary whispered, brushing a piece of Sam's hair away from his face. "I understand why you're upset, and I would be too if I were you. I'm so sorry I haven't been here to notice how this has all been affecting you." Sam's shoulders started to shake, and Mary knew he was near tears. "No matter what happens, I love you. Your brother loves you, and your dad loves you. And we want to help if something's wrong, but we can't do that if you won't tell us what it is. I want to help you get better, sweetie. I'm so sorry I haven't."

Sam's lip quivered and he shook his head, feeling the first tears slip down his cheeks. "I love you, Mom." He whimpered, and Mary wrapped him in a tight hug, shushing him and trying to calm him down. Sam just clung to his mother and kept apologizing for how he acted the day before. 

~

Sam ended up staying in Mary's room for a good part of the morning, the two of them just talking about things and getting some of the air cleared. They both agreed, that since neither she nor Dean were around a lot, to try and get some kind of help for Sam. Much to Sam’s protest, Mary said she wanted to involve Dean in this conversation, and they would talk to him later in the day. "Be thinking of things that you might want to try." She suggested. 

Sam went back to his room when he felt things were patched back up with his mother - with several more apologies thrown in for the day before - and immediately got started thinking for something to do. He thought antidepressants might help at least level him enough to get out of bed in the mornings, but it wasn't exactly a cure-all. He also thought about talking to someone, which might have been better, but they couldn't really afford it right then. The guidance counselor at school might have been a better option, but from what he'd heard from other kids, he wasn't the most helpful person, so Sam decided against that. He sighed, and decided to look around online until his brother got home and they could talk to him about what to do. 

 

~ 

When Dean got home from work, Sam was left alone in the house. Mary had run to the store for some things, and Sam declined the offer to go along with her. After a bit of prodding and making sure he wasn't going to do something drastic, Mary left her youngest to sit down with a book for awhile. 

He heard the sound of Dean's boots coming up the driveway, and braced himself. He hadn't spoken to his brother since he'd yelled at them, and he doubted their mother had talked to him yet, so he was probably in for it. 

Dean opened the door, and his eyes fell on the couch, where his little brother sat with a book closed between his fingers. "You've got some damn nerve, you know that?" He told him angrily. "I get that you're not feeling right in the head right now, but that's our mother. And you need to show her some goddamn respect." 

Sam just sat there, not looking at Dean, but taking what he said to heart. He knew this; he'd been telling himself these exact same things all day, but hearing it come from someone else struck home. He swallowed thickly and took a breath, telling himself it wouldn't be worth it to start crying now. 

"She's trying her hardest, Sam. She's doing the best she can. Do you even realize how lucky you are to have a mom who loves you enough to want a good life for you?" Dean folded his arms across his chest and shook his head at his brother. "Cas doesn't even  _ have _ a mom, Sam. And his father's about as big of a piece of shit as Dad is. He'd kill for this. I know he would." 

 

Sam finally turned to his older brother and shot him a nasty look. "You know, I feel bad enough about it as it is, you don't have to make me feel worse, you asshole." He got to his feet and shot off to his room before Dean could catch him, and locked the door. He stayed there until he heard Mary come home. 

~

It took some convincing from his mom, but Sam finally came back downstairs, and the three of them sat down to talk about what to do with Sam. 

"Alright," Mary started, looking between her boys. She could tell something was wrong just by watching them. Avoiding direct eye contact with each other, and Sam shrank back whenever he got close to Dean. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” Sam replied, taking a seat on the couch and staring at his hands. “Everything’s fine.” 

“No it isn’t, what’s wrong?” Mary turned to her oldest, hoping to get some light shed on this. “Dean?” 

The older brother thought for a minute, trying to decide if it was worth it to involve their mom or not, before finally breaking down and confessing. “Sam was acting like a brat, and I called him out on it, and now he’s pissed at me.” 

“That’s not true, you asshole, you--”

 

“ _ Enough! _ ” Mary yelled, glaring between the two of them. “Sam, what did he say to you?” 

Sam shot his brother a nasty look before turning back to Mary and replying. “He told me that I need to be grateful for even having a mom, because Cas doesn’t, and his dad’s no better of a father than ours.” 

“Dean--” Mary started.

“It’s not like I was lying!” Dean interrupted, trying to defend himself. “Cas tells me that all the time!” 

Their mother sighed, taking a seat in her chair and shaking her head at them. “Regardless if it’s true or not, you shouldn’t say that kind of thing to your brother. You’re not helping the situation at all by making him feel worse, Dean. Now, apologize to each other, and let’s move on, shall we?”

“Sorry.” The brothers said together, a little grudgingly. 

Mary cleared her throat. "Now, Sam and I talked this morning, and we both agreed that we need to do something for him to help him start feeling better." Her eyes landed on Sam, encouraging him to talk. 

 

Sam cleared his throat and sheepishly looked up at his family. "Well... I thought about maybe getting on an antidepressant?" He suggested. 

"If it comes to it, we will, but I'd prefer not to right now." 

"I also thought about maybe going to talk to someone?" 

This time it was Dean who spoke up. "As much as I’d like to say yes, that would put us in debt until Sam's forty. We're barely hanging on as it is, I don't think we can take another hit like that." 

Sam sighed, and excused himself for a moment. He returned with his laptop, and set it up on the table. "Well, both of you are in luck, because I was looking around online earlier, and I might have found something." He typed something in, and waited a moment while the page loaded, then turned the computer so Mary and Dean could both see. 

"What's this?" Mary asked, scooting the laptop closer to her to get a better look. 

"It's a camp that deals with kids with depression and anxiety." Sam explained. “I thought it couldn’t hurt to at least check it out. Maybe getting out of here for awhile would be good for me.” 

He looked up at them, unable to hide the hope in his eyes. "Maybe I can learn a thing or two about how to handle this stuff better, or maybe actually be able to get  _ help _ and beat it." 

 

Mary scanned the page, and then let Dean see it too. "You'll be gone the whole summer, though." She said sadly. "I don't want you to be gone that long." 

Sam deflated a little, but nodded and tried to smile at his mother. "I know, I don't want to be either, but this could really be good for me. I want to go." 

Mary shared a look with Dean, and finally relented. "Alright. But you're going to be writing me every day, you hear me?" Sam grinned, and nodded at her again. "When's he gotta be there?" She asked Dean. 

 

"He's gotta be there by the first week of June. So... A week after he gets out of school." Dean read.

"When does he come back?”

"August fifteenth." 

“Okay,” Mary said slowly, really thinking about this. “Is it free?” 

Dean scrolled around on the page for a minute, lips pursed and fingers of his free hand drumming the table while he scanned it. “No. Looks like it’s about fifty bucks for the whole summer.” He looked at his mother, determination in his eyes, and spoke up again. “I’ll pay for it if you need me to. I can work some extra hours at the library or somethin’ and pay for it that way.” 

Sam just snorted, smirking that shit-eating younger brother look at him, and replied, “Yeah, I’m  _ sure  _ Dean wouldn’t mind picking up a couple extra shifts at the library. I’m also sure it has nothing to do with the fact Cas is working there full time this summer.” 

“Shut up, Sam.” Dean growled, trying not to show how flustered that made him. “Keep it up, I’m gonna rent you out to a pimp so you can pay for your own camp.” 

  
“Dean!” Mary yelled, exasperated at her sons. “Don’t even joke about that.” 

 

“Tell him to leave Cas out of it, then!” 

“Well,” Sam started, still smirking, “If you wouldn’t be so damn sensitive about it, I would. But seeing you get so worked up about it is too good.” 

“Sam, enough. Leave your brother alone.” Mary chided, shaking her head at him. “Anyways, if you two are done bickering, let’s get back to the subject, okay? Dean, if you really think you can handle the overtime, go for it. Maybe if you decide you like it there enough, you can get full time like Cas.” Sam snorted at that, and Mary shot him a warning look before continuing. “Sam, if you are really serious about this camp, we’ll try it. But I want you to think on it a bit more before we do anything. Do you think you can handle being away from home that long?” 

“I think I’ll be alright.” Sam told her, smiling a little. “I’ve thought about this a lot, and if it’s the only option we can all agree on, I want to try it.” 

Mary shot him one more sad look before asking for the computer back, and signing him up to go. He was going to camp. He was going to try getting some help for his problems, and maybe he'd be able to beat this. Sam felt more hopeful than he had in months, and once she was finished, he pulled Mary into a tight hug and told her thank you. 

"Just enjoy yourself." Mary whispered to him before pulling back. "And have fun. And if you're still sad when you come home, we'll try something else. But I have faith you can overcome this." She smiled, and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "You'll do fine." 


	2. Chapter 2

The weeks leading up to camp were both good and bad for Sam; his family was trying to be better about being home, but conflicting schedules prevented them from seeing much of each other. The good thing, though, was that Mary and Dean were both aware of what was going on, which made things easier. Sam felt like he didn’t have to hide, or put up a happy front for their sake. Sam actually thought that things might be turning around. 

 

Though things at home were going well, school was miserable. It was nearing finals week, which was always a stress on Sam's mind, but even more so now, since he'd hardly studied since he first noticed a change in his mood. 

 

Dean and Mary helped when they could, and Jessica, Andy, Castiel, and another one of Dean's friends, Garth, helped some of the other time. He appreciated it, because he thought he might actually be able to make it out of his freshman year alive. It was nice knowing he had other people he could turn to if he needed it, and that Cas above anyone else was so willing to help. Though he did like discussing Dean a lot during study breaks, Sam was glad that Cas was around  - for his sake as well as his brother's. 

It wasn't any secret that Dean and Cas were close. They had met the day they started first grade, when Dean found Cas cornered in a hallway by a couple older, mean looking kids. He stepped in, and Cas had been attached to his hip ever since. When Dean had a free minute, he was always with Cas, or Cas was at their house, and more often than not Dean ended the day with a call to his friend. 

Sam had a bet going with Andy and Jess that by the time he got home from camp, someone will have caught them together in someone's room. Sam put $50 down in support of it. 

****

The day finally came for Sam to leave, and he was starting to feel nervous. The longest he'd stayed away from home was the weekend at his Dad's, this time he'd be going for six weeks. 

The night before Sam left, he and his family (Cas included) sat down for a nice dinner together and talked about the upcoming weeks. Castiel, a summer camp veteran himself, filled Sam in on things that he should expect. Dean listened to him speak earnestly, and Sam thought that he might win his bet after all. He quickly sent a text to Jessica and Andy, telling them to try keeping an eye on things over the summer and write to him about it. 

After dinner was over and many stories from Cas's time at camp, and a triple check to make sure Sam had everything together, it was after one in the morning and Cas decided to stay the night. He and Dean took down the stairs to his brother's room and Sam rolled his eyes, smiling and hoping Cas kept his brother company over the summer while he was gone. 

Sam stayed up for a little while longer, trying to psyche himself up for camp and failing miserably. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, and he almost had himself convinced to back out when Mary came in and sat down in the chair across from him. "You'll be fine." She promised. 

 

"I know. It's just... I'm nervous." Sam admitted, looking up at his mother with fear in his eyes. "I've never stayed away from home that long." 

Mary smiled at her son and reached across to him, taking one of his hands and holding it. "You'll be okay, Sammy. You deserve a break from this place, and this is your chance to get it." She squeezed his hand, and got up to sit beside him, pulling him into a hug. "I'm gonna miss you so much." 

Sam returned her hug and lay his head on her shoulder, feeling like a little kid again. "I'll miss you too, Mom." 

"I love you." 

"I love you, too." 

Mary pulled away but kept her arm around Sam, bringing him close to her side, and was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry for not being around a lot." 

Sam shook his head and lay his head on her shoulder. "Don't be. I... know you didn't mean to be. It's not your fault." 

Mary just held onto her son and tried to calm herself down before she started to cry. "You better write me every day." She told him. 

Sam smiled. "I will, don't worry." He sat there for a moment before grinning and turning so he was looking at her. "I made a bet with Andy and Jess." 

"About?" 

"About whether Dean and Cas will hook up by the end of summer." 

"Sam," Mary started, using her 'mom' voice, "why would you do that?" 

Sam shrugged. "Have you seen the way they act around each other? Mom they're practically dating." 

Mary shook her head and leaned in closer to him, whispering. "I meant, you can't rush things like that. Your brother will come around eventually. Just give it time." Sam stared at his mother in shock for a moment, not expecting that answer, and Mary rolled her eyes. "Do you honestly think I didn't know? Sam, your brother looks at Cas the same way your father looked at me when we were dating. It's not a huge secret." 

Sam just laughed at her. "You're okay with it?" 

 

"Sam, I'm happy as long as he's happy. And Cas is who makes him happy. What kind of mother would I be if I tried to take that from him?"

Sam got up and hugged his mother tightly, glad that she was so cool about it. "You're awesome." he informed her. "Promise to keep me updated on them this summer? Please? I'll write you every day if you do. But if you catch them in the act, promise to either bleach or burn whatever surface it was on." 

"I promise." Mary returned her son's hug, chuckled, and kissed his cheek. "Now you need to go to bed. You've got a long day tomorrow." Sam agreed and he was left alone for the night.

Sam felt much better about things as he lay in bed. He thought that maybe he might make it through the summer after all, if he had letters coming in and going out. It would be hard still, but he might actually do it. His main concern now was that his fellow campers were nice and he could make friends. 

**** 

Morning came around a lot quicker than Sam would have liked. All in all, he probably only ended up with maybe five hours of sleep under his belt before Mary was waking him up. He groaned and pulled the blanket up around his head, begging for just five more minutes, please? She was having none of it, yanked the blankets off, and threw his duffle down onto the mattress. "Downstairs, dressed and ready to go, ten minutes." 

Sam huffed, but got his things together and hurried through a shower before heading downstairs with all his things. He set them on the ground by the couch and stretched out across it, closing his eyes and hoping to catch a little shut eye before they had to leave. 

Apparently, luck wasn't on his side, because as soon as he got comfortable, Mary was shaking him again and hurrying him to the car. Dean and Castiel were already in the back seat, looking disoriented and just as tired as Sam felt. He yawned, stuffed his things in the trunk, and climbed up front. 

The hour and a half long car ride out there was mostly silent, save for a few failed attempts at conversation from Mary, and it was easy for all three boys to sleep for a little while. Sam was thankful for that, as he felt he needed all the sleep he could get. 

It was just after 8:00 in the morning when they pulled up to the campgrounds. Sam climbed out of the car and grabbed his things, staring out at the cabins that would be his home for the next 6 weeks. A slap on the back alerted him that Dean was there beside him, and Sam trudged along behind his mother as she made her way inside. 

Sam was ushered along to a crowd of other first-timers; kids who had yet to be assigned cabins and t-shirts and looked bored, tired, and generally upset and pissed about whatever had led them to this moment. Sam exhaled and took his spot behind a girl with long, dark hair and a bored look on her face. He didn't say much to her, and instead turned his attention out to the grounds where campers and staff alike were standing around talking and getting things ready. 

"We'll miss you," Mary said, pulling Sam into a hug. "It's not gonna be the same around home without you there." 

Sam returned his mother's hug and clung to her for a moment, suddenly not wanting her to leave. "I'll miss you, too." He pulled back and glanced at the three members of his family, feeling sad that he was actually leaving them. "If you talk to Dad before I get back, tell him to write me here. And I'll write him too." 

"I will. Try and have some fun, alright? And make sure you write /me/ while you're here, too." She kissed his cheek. 

Sam rolled his eyes and grinned at his mom, nodding his head. "I will. And you promise to keep me updated on those two?" 

Mary chuckled and glanced over at Dean and Castiel, who were whispering something to each other. "I promise. Boys! Say bye to Sam, it's time for us to go." She turned her attention back to her youngest son and pulled him in for one more hug. "I love you, Sammy."

"I love you too, Mom." Sam said goodbye to Dean and Cas and watched as they left, a part of him wishing he could follow them and say screw it to camp. He had his hand on his duffle and ready to follow them, when another boy walked up behind him, and blocked his path for bolting it. 

The impression Sam got from the newcomer was that he was afraid of his own shadow, and if that was the case, Sam felt bad for him. "Hi, I'm Sam," he announced, turning to the boy and holding his hand out to him. 

The boy jumped, but recovered himself after a few seconds and just nodded back. "M-My name's... Chuck." He gave Sam an awkward smile and, after looking at the extended hand for a second, finally took it and gingerly shook it. He fell silent after that and started looking around, and Sam could almost swear he was getting more nervous by the second. 

"So, what are you in for?" Sam asked, trying to make conversation with this kid. 

"A-Anxiety. Severe anxiety. You?" 

"Depression." 

"I'm sorry." Chuck replied, genuinely looking it. 

Sam shrugged him off and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "It's not a big deal. S'why I'm here. Hopin' a summer at Camp Rolling Hills'll fix things. Kinda funny they name a camp in the flattest part of Kansas 'Rolling Hills', don't'cha think?" 

Chuck shook his head and gripped his duffle a little tighter. "Not really... I-I'm not from around here... Just - just moved out here 'cause'a my dad's work... I'm from Ohio originally.... Lots of hills out there." 

Sam turned fully to his friend, a little intrigued, and asked, "Really? What's it like out there?" 

"Uh..." Chuck swallowed and turned his eyes to the campgrounds, trying to find the right words, "It's very green..."

Sam was startled into a laugh and grinned at the kid, kind of hoping he got to see more of him this summer. He kinda liked the guy. "Green, huh? That it?" 

"Um... Yes?" Chuck mumbled, seeming unsure of the answer. "It's... green... And.... we have.... the world's largest horseshoe crab?" 

Sam laughed again and was about to reply when they were called to attention. They were gathered around around a small stage near one side of the grounds, and a small ripple of conversation fluttered through the crowd as an older man walked up the steps and cleared his throat, trying to get their attention. All heads turned to him, and for a moment, Sam thought he saw what looked like a bit of nerves flash across his face. 

"First off, I want to welcome all of you here to Camp Rolling Hills. My name is Bobby Singer, I'm the director here. If you have any problems, you come see me. You'll all be here for the next few weeks, you will be assigned a cabin, a counselor, and bunk-mates, and they will be your main line of support while you're here. Try to make friends, kids." He paused for a moment, looking out over the crowd, and his tone became more serious. "The second thing is that there is a zero tolerance for bullies. This is a safe place for kids who need a break from life, and if you see or hear anything happening, you're encouraged to report it immediately. Our goal here is to  _ help _ you guys, not make your problems worse. If you are having a rough time with things, you're encouraged to go to your counselor and let them know as soon as possible. Let them know what's going on, and talk to them if you need to. They might know more about this than you might think." Sam could tell the man was getting uncomfortable with being in the spotlight, so he cleared his throat again and wrapped it up. "I hope you guys have a nice, safe summer, and have some fun. A lot of you look like you need it." He stepped down, and as he walked away, excited chatter broke out once again. 

  
  


~~~

After the speech, everybody went off to do their own things, and get shown around the camp. Chuck stuck to Sam's side almost the entire time, which in a way was nice, but also a little annoying to Sam. He liked Chuck, and he was glad that he already had a friend here, but did he have to stick so close to him? 

When everybody filed into the mess hall for dinner, everybody was still buzzing about things they'd done so far, and what their plans were for summer. They were also excited because that was when their cabins were going to be announced.

Chuck had taken to following Sam around, trying desperately to make conversation with the other boy but needing a little help that Sam was happy to assist with. They sat together at the far end of the room, away from the other kids sitting at their table, and Sam filled Chuck in on the bare bones of why he was there. 

"Good evening, campers." drawled a low voice from the front of the room. All heads turned to see a man with a mullet standing there, smiling lazily at all of them. "I'm Ash, I'm the activities director of this fine establishment, and I'm here to announce your cabins...." Name after name was called out, assigned, and grouped with their bunk-mates before they got to the two friends and that was fine with them. It gave them time to finish their food, get to know each other a little better, and try to decide who they might have stuck with them for the next couple months. "....Cabin 13 gets... Chuck Shurley, Kevin Tran, Inias Eaton, Harry Spangler, and Sam Winchester. Your counselor will be Gabriel Milton, who you'll meet after dinner. Now, cabin 14!"  

Sam breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Chuck, grinning. "Well, looks like we'll at least be friends with one bunk-mate." 

"Yeah, that.... that takes a bit of the nerves off." Chuck replied, and Sam could almost see the relief in his eyes after that. He honestly did feel bad for the kid if his anxiety was anywhere near as bad as Sam thought it might be. "It'll be a lot easier having a friend there." Chuck said, and almost regretted it. "You... I mean... I'm sorry if you don't--" 

"No, no!" Sam cut him off, still smiling. "We're friends, Chuck. Don't worry." 

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief, and the two cleared their plates, deciding to go ahead and pick out their beds before they had no choice in the matter. They grabbed their bags and headed out to their lodging for the next summer of their lives. 

~~~

Cabin 13 was near the end of the row and closer to the lake than Sam would have liked. His first thought when they arrived was that mosquitoes would eat them alive out here, and could only hope someone brought enough bug spray for the whole cabin with them, because that wasn't something he'd been smart enough to think to pack. 

They opened the door, and Sam was thankful to see screens on the windows and door, and thought that might provide some protection from the bugs. There were three bunks in the cabin: and Sam picked the one on the back wall which had a straight shot out one of the windows and a good view of the campgrounds itself. 

"Do you want top or bottom?" Chuck asked nervously. 

"Hmm?" 

"I-I thought that, if you didn't mind, I... could go ahead and stick with you? If that's okay. I don't wanna intrude..." 

Sam chuckled and looked at the bunk, then back to Chuck. "How 'bout you pick first?" He suggested, gesturing for Chuck to go ahead. 

It took the boy less than a second to decide that, in the event of something happening and the wood collapsing from the top, that he would rather be up there, seeing as Sam probably had a good 60 pounds on him and would most likely crush him. Not that he was overly fond of being up that high, either, it just made more sense this way. "Do you mind? I just--" 

"It's fine, Chuck." Sam offered his friend a smile and helped him heave his bag up onto the mattress before shoving his own under his bed and flopping down onto it. "So, Chuck, what do you do in your spare time?" 

It fell dead silent for a moment, and Sam almost thought that he wasn't going to answer him, when Chuck offered up a small "I write."

"That's... actually really cool." Sam said, a smile on his face though he knew Chuck couldn't see him. "I used to want to do that - I was pretty good at it too, but..." Sam sighed and shook his head, not exactly wanting to remember that time. "Then my dad left, and shit happened, and then I just... stopped." 

 

Things once again fell silent between the two, but it wasn't so uncomfortable that they felt they _needed_  to say anything. Sam heard people coming their way and turned his head in time to see the other boys in their group, plus one other boy - Gabriel, Sam assumed -  swaggered in after them.

 

The boys hurriedly got their beds picked out and their things put away, and Gabriel stood up at the front of the room with the biggest, fakest smile Sam had ever seen before. "Glad to see you all got your beds picked out without too much bloodshed." The counselor grinned. "I'm Gabriel, and I'll be your best friend for the next six weeks, so get used to seeing this gorgeous face around, guys. 'Cause it ain't goin' nowhere." Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at all of them, and Sam silently groaned, already forming a negative opinion of their counselor. Sam shut his eyes, images already forming of Gabriel lecturing them about “The Power of Positive Thinking”. The thought already made him want to throw up. 

It was going to be a long, long summer. 


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent getting to know each other. Kevin was a prodigy and planned on being the first Asian-American president, Harry was into ghost hunting, and had his own web series investigating places around his hometown, Inias was an artist, Chuck enjoyed writing and music and said he would either end up being an author or a musician, and Sam... didn't know what to tell them. 

When it came turn for him to share something about himself, Sam just shrugged and muttered something about a creative writing class he took in school once and turned the attention on someone else. In all honesty, the last few years of Sam's life were so crazy, he hadn't sat down long enough to do things he really enjoyed. The thought upset him. It had been too long since Sam had put any stock into things that made him happy, and it made him hope even more that the summer here could help with that. 

Gabriel talked for a good long while about the camp, things they could expect, and the importance of letting someone know if they started getting really depressed again. Sam wondered to himself if something happened to a camper while there, if they'd gotten in trouble for it.

He also decided the more Gabriel spoke, the less he liked him. He had an overly happy air about him that Sam was convinced was put on for their sake. He hated when people did that, and he really had to bite his tongue to keep from mocking the guy whenever he opened his mouth. A part of him - a very, very small part of him - knew that Gabriel was doing his job, and he didn't come there to get someone fired and ruin the experience for everyone else. He knew he'd just have to deal with it, or maybe try talking Bobby into letting him have another cabin. 

***  
The next day wasn't much better. Gabriel had them awake by 6:00 a.m. for breakfast, and immediately ushered them off for an activity Sam couldn't remember anymore. It continued like that as the day went on, and by lunch, they were all exhausted. Chuck, especially. 

Turns out, Chuck hadn't had a great night being so far away from home, on top of the fact that he was apparently an insomniac. Chuck explained to Sam over lunch that when he was at home, he would sit up and write stories in his notebooks or on his computer until he finally started feeling tired enough to sleep. It helped, he said, but not enough that he thought he could rely on that alone for help with his problems. 

"I had a hell of a time sleeping last night." the boy yawned as he picked at his food. 

"Couldn't settle down?" Sam asked.

Chuck shook his head and took a sip of his pop, wishing for all the world that the caffeine would take effect soon. "I - I forgot my notebooks at home, and... besides that.... I didn't want to keep everyone awake w-with my writing..." Sam swore he could have seen the guy start blushing. 

"You know none of us really care, right?" Harry chimed in. "I've been known to stay up late, and I'm sure Kevin and Inias have too." 

"Recently, yes." Kevin nodded. 

"I think you'd honestly be okay, Chuck.... Maybe.... Maybe Gabriel can sneak you a notebook or something.." Sam decided to ask him later on, if they had a minute out of earshot of the others. 

Chuck shook his head so fast Sam wondered if it wouldn't fly off his body if he gained much more speed. "N-No, you don't h-have to do that, Sam. It - It's okay... I'll manage." 

"If he doesn't, I will." Inias spoke up, grinning at the boy. "Maybe we might want to read some of the stories you write this summer." 

"Can we be in 'em?" Harry asked. 

Chuck muttered something Sam couldn't make out and turned his full attention to his food, so the subject was dropped for the time being. Sam decided right then and there he was going to find a notebook for Chuck if it killed him.

****

After lunch, a few of the boys headed out to see what kinds of activities they could do, and the rest went back to the cabin for a few of their things; they agreed to all meet down by the lake in a little while to see what was going on there. Sam and Kevin both went for the canoes; Sam because he liked being out on the water without actually being in it, Kevin because he wanted to see if he could identify different fish and birds out in it. Sam agreed to go with him seeing as he might learn something from the experience. 

Harry, Inias, and Chuck all stayed on the bank doing something or other. Harry mentioned something about sharing ghost stories with the others before Sam took off, so he assumed that's what they were doing. He only hoped it didn't spook Chuck too much. Poor kid had enough problems as it was without having to worry about some monster coming to eat them all in their cabin in the middle of the night. 

"So what are you in for?" Sam asked Kevin once they were out in their canoe. "You seem... pretty happy to me." 

Kevin grinned at the other boy and shrugged, dipping his hand into the water. "Stress got to me after awhile. You don't exactly end up with the best grades in your entire school by slacking off. Trying to keep up with grades on top of cello practice, with a girlfriend, and everything else... It got to me. Near the end of the year, I had a complete and utter mental breakdown, and just... gave up, on everything. My mom talked to me about it, and she decided to send me out here to relax for a few weeks, see if it'd help. So far, just getting away from the city, and home is making me feel like an entirely new person. What about you?" 

Sam shrugged off the question and took a moment to answer, wondering how bare of an answer he could get away with. "Dad walked out on my mom, brother, and me 'bout five years ago, shacked up with someone else, and now he's in Iraq. Everything kinda piled up and I got overwhelmed with it and snapped. Told my family I needed a break, and they let me come out here." 

"That's heavy, man." Kevin replied, shooting Sam a sympathetic look. "If it makes you feel any better, I never knew my dad." 

"Not really, but it's nice to know someone gets it." 

Kevin nodded and turned his attention back to the shore, where Chuck, Inias, and Harry were sitting in a semi circle, talking. "What's your friend's story?" 

"Sorry?" 

"Your friend. The squirrely kid. Chuck." 

"Oh." Sam shot a look back to the bank and shook his head, not knowing what to say. "Your guess is as good as mine. I didn't ask and he didn't tell. Just said he's got severe anxiety, and he's here to get help for it. That's all I know." 

"Poor guy." Kevin sighed, and he and Sam decided to start paddling back before the sun started getting to them. "I'd hate having to deal with that all the time. I don't know if I could." 

Sam nodded his head in agreement and shot another look back to his friend, deciding he needed to find out his story before it was all over. 

***  
As it turns out, there was a bit of a group project being discussed between the three they left back on the bank. Harry had told enough ghost stories while they were gone that Chuck decided to write a story about a guy who went around hunting monsters for a living, and Inias offered to do artwork for it if Chuck wanted. He agreed without hesitation. The guy was supposed to be based off Sam, and Kevin promised to check over everything for grammatical mistakes if and when Chuck ever was able to get his hands on a notebook. 

It gave all of them something to look forward to while they were there, and it gave Chuck something to get his mind off of being away from home, and something to look forward to when he got there. 

*****  
Gabriel found them outside the cabin a couple hours later, sweating and still talking about Chuck's story, pitching ideas back and forth on how he could write it. He smiled when he saw them and walked over, the fakey smile plastered on his face once again. "Hey, guys!" 

The others replied with a friendly greeting, but Sam did nothing except sigh and turn away from their counselor and silently curse his friends for buying into it. Well, he would show him. 

Sam was too busy sulking that he didn't see the smile slip a few inches from Gabriel's face, though to be fair he covered it up quickly with a clearing of his throat and a clap of his hands. "So, I was thinking that maybe you guys would like to get involved in some of the crap going on today. They're having an unofficial checkers tournament in the mess hall right now, I was gonna go down there in a minute. Or there's water polo going on at the lake? I can take you guys over there in a little while." 

"I think we'd be able to find it ourselves, thanks." Sam snapped, pushing off the side of the cabin and heading over to the mess hall on his own. 

After a few moments of talking to Gabriel and deciding that yes, checkers sounded like a lot of fun, the others followed after him. 

~~~

Cabin 13 actually did fairly well in the tournament. Harry was taken out first, followed by Inias, Kevin, and then Chuck and Sam were paired up together. Chuck won by two kings. After the boys finished, they wandered over to where the counselors were playing, and watched Gabriel's games for a little while. The guy was surprisingly good and won his first three games with little to no effort. Then came Luke. Sam had seen him on his first day there. Tall, menacing-looking and a few years older than Gabriel, Luke was the kind of guy that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. 

When Gabriel sat down in the chair, the older guy gave him a sickeningly sweet smile that almost had their counselor rolling his eyes. Gabriel's eyes immediately went to the board and Luke started in with comments spoken low enough the others couldn't hear. Gabe could, though, and with each passing one, his agitation grew. Sam watched the boy, the way his jaw clenched and the veins in his thin arms stood out as he got more and more upset, and grinned. It was funny to Sam to see Gabriel getting so angry over whatever it was, to see some kind of real emotion on his face other than the one he plastered on when talking to them. It made him almost want to like the guy. 

About halfway through the game, Luke said something that finally caused Gabriel to snap and he slammed his piece down on the table and stood. "I forfeit!" He shouted, stomping out of the mess hall and off somewhere out of sight. 

Sam raised his eyebrows and let out a low whistle, shaking his head at the turn of events. If Gabriel was that easy to irritate, he thought he might have a fun time with him after all. 

*** 

Nobody saw Gabriel again until after dinner. He was hiding out in the cabin, laying on his back on his bed with his eyes closed, taking deep, even breaths. It appeared to Sam that he was still trying to calm himself down after the incident in the afternoon. Kevin knocked at the door and Gabriel sat up, giving his head a tiny shake and faking a smile at them as they piled in. Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he lay in his bunk. 

"You know," Gabriel spoke up after a little while. "They should be setting up for a campfire here in a little bit if you guys wanna go. It'll give you a chance to meet some of the other campers." 

The others agreed, and took off with Gabriel after the sun started setting. Sam lay there staring up at the bunk above him and thinking about writing a letter home. He was about to get up and get a piece of paper when he heard someone coming up to the cabin. Sam turned over onto his side and slowed his breathing as Gabriel opened the door and went to his bed, sighing heavily and collapsing down onto the mattress. 

Sam cracked his eyes open and listened to the other boy breathing for a few moments, noticing how uneven it sounded. For a moment, Sam entertained the idea that Gabriel was crying, or trying not to cry, and it almost made him feel bad for the guy. It went like that for almost an hour - Gabriel trying to get a hold of himself and Sam listening to it with some sick fascination - until the rest of the cabin came back, and the counselor was all smiles again. Sam rolled his eyes and lost whatever sympathy he'd just gained for the other. 

****   
Next morning the boys were up with the sun and a cheerful Gabriel. They had a quick breakfast and then were led off to some open fielded area of the camp where some other sleepy campers were filing in. Today, they would be having a three-legged race. Chuck immediately went to Sam's side, picking him as his partner. The other guys in the cabin had theirs selected for them. Sam wondered why he and Chuck weren’t broken up, but he wasn’t complaining about it. It was a relief to have someone he knew as his teammate. 

"Okay Chuck," Sam started after they had gotten their legs tied together, "I want you to listen to me. We have to work together to get through this. You move when I do, got it?" The other boy nodded and they got themselves into position. 

This would have been easy, save for the fact Sam's legs were miles longer than Chuck's. Sam's stride ran circles around his companion's, and he really had to work to keep pace with him. Sam felt it was going agonizingly slow, but save for Kevin and his partner, they were the only ones really seeming to get the hang of it. 

They ended up coming in third, behind Kevin and a couple guys from cabins 10 and 2. Considering the height difference, and the fact that Chuck was half-panicked the entire time they were running, they did good. He was happy with third. Chuck fell to the ground after they finished up and started untying his leg from Sam's. He was ready to be free from the other boy. 

Sam had a look around at all the other runners, noticing boys from different cabins paired up with almost everyone. "You know, Chuck, you might not be so lucky to get one of us next time." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I mean, the only reason we got paired up was because we were sneaky about it. You might end up getting paired with a different guy next time." Sam could see the younger boy tense up at the idea, and patted his leg. "You can do it, Chuck. It's just for a few minutes and then it's over. You're strong enough to handle it." 

Chuck didn't say anything, just pulled his leg back and got to his feet, walking off to find their friends. Sam stood there, watching him for a moment, before getting up and taking off after them at his own pace.   
********

Sam entertained the idea of maybe easing up on Gabriel until about midday. They were down at the lake again, and in the thick of a water polo game. Cabin 13 had effectively been broken and spread out, though Sam insisted he stay close by in case something happened with Chuck. 

Gabriel was up on the bank, watching the games with a couple of the other counselors, who were goading him about what happened the day before with Luke. "Just drop it, will ya? It's not like he doesn't get under any of your guys' skin to the point you wanna snap." 

"Yeah," replied one of the others, a girl just a couple years older than Gabriel, whose name he thought was Meg, "but none of us would actually /do/ anything to him. You know how he is, Gabe. Why do you give into it?" 

"I don't know. Old resentment getting the better of me?" 

"You need to calm down. You're only hurting yourself by making a scene." 

"I know." 

It wasn't two minutes after he finished talking that Luke ran up to them, pointing at Gabriel. "I need your help with something, kid." 

"Can't it wait?" Gabriel asked. 

Luke shook his head. "No, one of the kids was trying to get a canoe down off one of the racks and the whole thing fell on him." 

Gabriel paled, immediately getting to his feet and taking off. 

Meanwhile, Sam's team had been eliminated from the game and had disbanded. He wandered over to where Chuck was,checking up to see how his friend was doing. It was going terribly. Chuck was one of the guys up top, and Sam could tell, just by looking at him that vertigo was starting to get to him. Sam decided to stay close in case something happened. 

It didn't take much for them to knock Chuck off, and into the water he went. He broke the surface and was getting ready to say something when he was pulled under again, and again once he came up for air. "Help!" He shouted. "Something's got my leg! Something's got my leg!" 

Sam was at his friend's side first, and pulled him up, holding onto him in case something happened. Chuck was gasping for breath and shaking so violently that Sam wondered if he would break apart if it got much worse. "Chuck, you okay?" 

"I can't.... I can't.... breathe." His voice was wobbly and quiet, and Sam started dragging him out of the water. If Chuck was going into a panic attack, then he shouldn't be in the water. 

Sam immediately started looking around for Gabriel, and was pissed to find that he wasn't there anymore. He was supposed to be there. He was supposed to be watching out for them in case something happened, and he was gone. Sam helped Chuck get set down in the grass and told him to breathe, that it was okay, and he needed to calm down. Having never had a panic attack himself, Sam had no idea what he was doing, but he hoped it would be enough. 

It didn't work, and before too long, Chuck was in full-blown panic mode. By now, all eyes were on them, and thankfully, the games had stalled. Kevin ran up to them and took over for Sam, helping Chuck through his attack and stayed there until things were back to normal. Even after Chuck had calmed, he was still shaking hard enough that he had to have help standing up, and Cabin 13 decided that attending to their friend was more important than a couple games. 

The five of them all helped get Chuck back to the cabin so he could relax, and told the others to send Gabriel there if and when they saw him. 

*****  
Chuck flopped down onto his bed, the heels of his hands digging into his eyes as he lay there, embarrassed about what happened down at the lake. Kevin, Sam, and the others sat around him, not saying anything - they didn't know what they could say. 

"Think I'll be able to show my face out there again?" Chuck asked from behind his hands. 

"Of course you will." Harry spoke up, an encouraging smile on his face. "You'll be fine, Chuck. Nobody thought that was funny, what happened."

"Yeah, I didn't see anybody amused by it. They were scared." Inias added. The four heard Chuck emit a groan and they left it at that. 

****

Gabriel was on his way back to the lake from the infirmary when he was stopped by a couple campers who were down in the water when Chuck was hurt. They told him what happened, and Gabriel immediately took off for his cabin to find the boys. 

When he arrived, he was greeted with a weak smile from Chuck and four matching glares from the others. His shoulders slumped and he exhaled, inching towards his bed so he could sit down and explain. "I can't express how sorry I am for not being there." He looked right at Chuck as he spoke, unable to bring himself to glance at the others. "There was a problem, someone got hurt, and they needed me to help out." 

"Well in case you didn't notice, someone got hurt here too." Sam snapped. "And if it weren't for Kevin being quick on his feet, something could have happened to Chuck. So maybe when you start doing your damn job, we'll accept your apology." He shot one more glare at the counselor before storming out the door and as far away from Cabin 13 as he could get.


	4. Chapter 4

The only thing that made Sam go back to the cabin that night was that he was worried about Chuck and the others. If Gabriel really was as incompetent as he made himself look today, then somebody needed to look after the others and Sam was willing to take on that role if he needed to. 

 

Everyone save Gabriel was asleep when Sam finally got back. The older boy looked up when Sam opened the door and attempted to say something to him, but Sam ignored him and flopped down onto his mattress, not bothering to change out of his clothes before covering up with his blanket. He lay there, staring at the bottom of Chuck's bunk until he heard Gabriel finally give up trying to apologize and go to bed. 

 

God, he hated him. He'd only been here a couple days and already he wanted to go home. He would just deal with his depression if it meant getting out of camp. When Sam was sure that everyone was asleep, he rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a pencil and a pad of paper. 

_ Mom and Dean, _ he started.    
_ Camp, so far, has been a mixed bag. Our counselor is awful, and he's probably the fakest person I've ever met in my life, but I've made friends with the other guys here. Chuck's a writer, Harry's a ghost hunter, Kevin's going to be the first Asian-American president, and Inias is an artist.  _

_ Today, Chuck got pulled under the water by someone and ended up having a panic attack. Gabriel was nowhere in sight. Kevin and I had to help get Chuck calmed down, then blamed it on something else.  _

_ I like camp so far, but I want a different counselor. I wonder if we can do something to fix it...  _

_ Love, Sam _

He ripped out his letter and stuffed it into an envelope, wrote out the address, and set it at the top of his stuff. He would deal with mailing it tomorrow. After that, Sam rolled over onto his side and watched the door for awhile until he finally felt his eyes start drooping, and he fell asleep. 

***** 

Next morning presented itself much earlier than any of them wanted. The six of them trudged out of the cabin to the mess hall for breakfast, Gabriel still trying to apologize to Sam the whole way. Sam picked up his pace and walked along ahead of the others, hoping Gabe caught the hint and gave up. It worked, and Sam was thankful. 

Chuck was still shaken up over the day before, but he was calm, and wasn't in danger, they thought, of being triggered into another attack.  He took the seat beside Sam at their table and quietly tried to explain what happened the night before as Gabriel explained it. Sam tuned him out after a few moments, not wanting to listen to it. His mind was basically made up about Gabriel at this point, and he wasn't in the mood for being told why he should give him a break. 

Gabriel took the seat catty-corner from Sam, and the younger boy turned his attention immediately to his food. 

"You should really give him a break, Sam. Gabe's not a bad guy. He's funny." Kevin whispered, picking up where Chuck left off. "Seriously, dude." 

"He could have gotten Chuck hurt. I'm not forgiving that. Besides," Sam's eyes flickered up to the counselor, "I just don't like him." 

The others sighed and turned their attention to their food and each other, leaving Sam to sulk with his own thoughts until breakfast was over. 

 

**** 

On the list for activities for the day were different rope challenges among other things, but the group was herded over to an open, grassy area, where a bunch of other kids were gathered and already working on solving their problems. 

"Okay, guys," Gabriel started, hurrying out in front of his kids, grinning. "Today we're gonna do something called 'handcuffs'. You're going to be paired up with another camper, and your hands are gonna be tied together and tangled up with rope. Your goal is to get out of it." He grinned. "Now, go ahead and pair up!" 

Sam was on his way over to find a partner when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Gabriel standing there, looking at him seriously. "You wanna pair up with me, Sam? I think there's some stuff we need to talk about." 

Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes and shrugged, following Gabriel over to an open spot and sat down, looping his rope through the other boy's and waiting for him to speak. 

"First off, I wanted to apologize again for what happened with Chuck. I shouldn't have left, but I was told there was someone that was hurt, and I acted. I know that it doesn't excuse me not being there, but it wasn't because I was purposefully being negligent to you guys. I wouldn't do that." 

"It doesn't change the fact that it happened.." Sam muttered. 

"You don't think I know that?" Gabriel snapped. "I feel like shit because Chuck got hurt, but me being there wouldn't have stopped it from happening. You said he got grabbed under the water, right? How could I have stopped that? I'm sorry for not being there to help out afterwards. I'm gonna try being better about that in the future. Alright?" 

Sam took a breath and fell silent, not knowing what to say. In truth, he knew he should forgive Gabriel and move on; Chuck and the others already had forgiven him, so why shouldn't he? Besides the fake smiles and overly positive attitude, he  _ really  _ wasn’t that bad, was he? Sam thought for a moment, knowing his anger would only do him in, and decided to put it to the back of his mind for the time being. "Alright." Sam eventually bit out, trying to get to work on getting out of his bonds. 

Gabriel watched him, amused at how frustrated he was getting with his failure, and shook his head. "The harder you fight with it, the worse it's gonna get. You might as well just relax. Besides, I'm not done." He watched as a brief flash of anger crossed Sam's face and rolled his eyes. "What's your problem with me, Sam? Don't even try denying there's one, because I know there is. I saw it the night I met you." 

Sam looked Gabriel right in the eyes and sighed. He knew he wouldn't he able to lie out of this one, and really, he wasn't sure if he wanted to. "I don't like how fake you act with us." He admitted. "The big, plastered on smile is about enough to make me want to hit you. The overly-happy attitude is ridiculous and everybody can see through it."  

Silence hung in the air for a few moments, as if Gabriel was waiting for him to continue, and when Sam didn't, he smiled. The bastard actually  _ smiled _ at him. "That's it? Jeez, kid, if I would have known that I'da dropped the act ages ago." Gabriel rolled his eyes and snorted at Sam. "I mean really, you know how tiring it is trying to be happy all the time? It's ridiculous." He said it jokingly, but Sam saw something deeper flash in his eyes, some kind of knowing hurt, or sadness, though Gabriel covered it too quickly for him to be sure. 

 

Dammit. He had him there. "Yeah, actually, I do. And it does suck." 

"Good. Now that we understand each other, how about a truce? For their sake?" 

"Fine." Sam sighed. "Now help me out of this." 

Gabriel chuckled again, and ugh, he was really enjoying this, wasn't he? "Not enjoying the heart-to-heart, kid?" 

Sam was startled into a laugh by that and shook his head, looking around and finding Chuck a little ways away breathing heavily and looking insanely anxious because he was tied up. "Yes, but I can see Chuck's over there about ready to start panicking." 

Gabriel looked over to where Sam gestured and swore, quickly undoing the two of them and running over to where Chuck was sitting, helping him out and making him go sit down in the grass away from the rest of the crowd and stayed with him while he calmed back down. After a moment of watching them, Sam got up and wandered over to sit with them. 

He listened to Gabriel talk with Chuck, trying to get him to breathe, slow and deep, with him, so he would calm down, and then as he started talking to him about random things, trying to get his mind off of it. "You know, Chuckie, we wouldn't let anything happen to you. If you couldn't figure it out, we'd help you out. You wouldn't be stuck there forever." 

"I - I know... I ju - just got... nervous. I freaked out and - and I couldn't.... think." 

Gabriel could sense he was stepping into dangerous territory again and shook his head. "Hey, it's fine. First time I got trapped in one of those things, I panicked, started crying and asked for my mom." 

That startled Sam into another laugh and both Gabriel and Chuck looked over at him with confusion on their faces. "What?" Sam asked. 

"What - what happened to your... brooding?" Chuck asked. "You're in five feet of Gabe. Usually by now y - you're pissed off." 

Sam huffed a laugh and turned, not really answering his friend's question. 

"Think he might finally be falling for that ol' Milton charm." Gabriel teased, which had Sam rolling his eyes. "Then again maybe not."

**** 

Sam made sure to rip up the letter he'd written to his mother as soon as he got back to the cabin and throw the remains in his duffle. Instead, he pulled out his paper and wrote another, friendlier letter to his mother and brother. 

_ Mom and Dean, things are going good so far; I like everybody, and it's been nice to get out of the city for a little while. I miss you guys, though.  _

_ I'm making friends, and actually doing well in all the challenges we've had. Smoked everyone in water polo and checkers yesterday. It was cool.  _

_ I'll write a more detailed letter later on, but I wanted you to know I'm okay, and doing good. I love you, and I hope you're not missing me too bad.  _

_ Love,  _

_ Sam _

 

He sealed and addressed the letter and set it in place of the other one before heading back out to find the others. 

*****

The rest of the week went by without too much trouble. Gabriel was keeping true to his word with trying to be better with the guys, and Sam was easing up on him some. In turn, the air in the cabin at night was calmer, and everyone felt they could breathe a little easier. 

Chuck was doing better with his attacks, though he still had a few small incidents here and there; one notable one involving a case of mistaking a raccoon for a cat, and once when he was asked to go out into the water after he was pulled under. Thankfully, Gabriel was right on top of it when it happened, and got Chuck calmed down before things escalated once again. 

Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all... 

***** 

The others had asked Sam several different times what had brought him into camp, and every time he gave a short, generic answer ("Just some things that happened at home piled up on me and I crashed"). There was a bit of mystery surrounding him that had everybody in their temporary home curious. 

He knew they were all encouraged to share their stories, but he really just didn't feel up for telling it, if he were being honest. He didn't like thinking about his dad leaving, or his family never being around, or any of the other contributions to his depression. Sam was just starting to feel better about life and everything else, the last thing he wanted was to drag that into it and ruin it for himself. So he kept quiet about it, hoping he'd be able to get through the summer without sharing too much. 

Apparently, that wasn't meant to be, however. Through the rest of the week, and part of the next, Gabriel bugged Sam constantly about opening up. "The reason you're here is to get help for your problems, Sam." to which Sam would reply "I'm getting help without talking about it." To which Gabriel would huff and drop the subject for a little while before starting back up again. 

**** 

One morning Sam was out for a walk by himself, enjoying the morning before too many others were up and things got busy, when he heard someone coming up behind him. "Sam!" It was Gabriel, and Sam groaned to himself, not wanting to deal with this. "Sam, wait up!" 

He slowed down and waited for Gabriel to catch up to him, waiting for the inevitable question. 

"What'cha doin' out here so early?" Gabriel asked. 

 

Sam shrugged and kept walking, looking out ahead of himself. "Couldn't sleep." 

Gabriel looked up at the other boy, concern obvious in his features, and walked a couple paces ahead of him, getting in his path and holding his arm out, making Sam stop. "You know you can talk to me, right?" 

"About what, Gabriel? There's nothing to talk about." 

"Call me Gabe, and yes there is. Look, I understand you don't want to talk about home, but...." Gabriel met Sam's eyes and held his gaze for a quick moment. "But I know holding it in isn't going to do anything for you in the long run. Talk to me, if you want, alright? That's why I'm here." 

Sam finally broke eye contact with him and nodded, stepping around him and walking on. Gabriel stayed with him, and the two made small talk for a little while, and Sam hated admitting it, but that was nice having Gabriel with him. 

“.... Another thing I was good at back home was rock skipping. We had a competition one summer out by this lake near my house. I came in first place.” Gabriel grinned triumphantly. “Won a Beanie baby and everything.” They were coming up on the lake, now, which gave the smaller boy an idea. “Actually…” 

Gabriel hurried up ahead of Sam, gathering a fist full of rocks, and went down to the water’s edge. Stone after stone, they all sank to the bottom without a skip, and Gabe frowned towards the lake as though it was its fault. 

“Yeah, you’re a real champ.” Sam chuckled, having caught up with him now. He picked up a rock of his own and it sailed perfectly over the top of the water for a few seconds before finally sinking, and Sam couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. 

Gabriel just pouted. “Listen here, show off,” He said, shoving Sam playfully in the shoulder and knocking him off balance. The younger boy laughed, and as he watched Gabriel crack up with him, he decided that maybe he just wasn’t the worst thing ever. 

They stood there, down by the water, Sam reteaching Gabriel the correct way to skip rocks, for a little while longer while the smaller of the two spoke fondly of home, and the taller talked of the future and breaking away from Lawrence once and for all. 

Eventually, though, it had to come to an end, and Gabe announced that he probably ought to go wake the rest of the cabin up and get the day started. He hesitated for a few moments before leaving though, weighing the pros and cons of what he wanted to tell Sam. Finally, he reached up, giving the younger boy's shoulder a squeeze and said "I'm not leaving you alone, Sam. If you ever need me, come find me. I'm always here." 

He turned away, and Sam watched in a bit of a stunned silence as Gabriel Milton walked back to their cabin.

  
  


_ Sam was sitting at the table with Dean, homework setting out in front of them, as well as an empty juice box or two that was swiped from the kitchen during study breaks. It was quiet enough that they heard John's footsteps coming down the hall from their parents' room, and both boys looked up when their father entered.  _

_ John and Mary had been fighting a lot recently, they knew, although they were unsure of the reasoning. One look on their father's face, as well as the heaviness in the air that he brought with him, told both boys something wasn't quite right.  _

_ "Boys," John started, pulling out a chair and sitting across from them both, "there's something I need to talk to you about."  _

_ Their parents were separating. They would live in their home with their mother, but John was moving out. At the end of the week. And in with some other woman named Kate. The look in Dean's eyes when John explained this was one that Sam had only seen one or two other times in his whole life: pure hatred.  _

_ Sam himself didn't understand fully what was happening, only that their parents were splitting up and they apparently had a younger half-brother they never knew about. It was a lot for them both to take in at the time; Sam only ten, and Dean just fourteen.  _

_ The day that John left, he gave a teary-eyed Sam a squeeze on the shoulder and bent so he was eye-level with his son. After telling him to not cry, John pulled him into a hug and said: "I'm not leaving you alone, Sammy. I'll always be here if you need me. Just come find me."  _

_ The boys would only see their father a handful of times scattered here and there throughout the year before he was deployed. _

  
  


Sam blinked back the tears in his eyes and took a breath. He didn't want to think about his father right now. He couldn't think of the pain that he felt after Gabriel so innocently promised him damn near the same thing.  He couldn't do this right now. Sam started walking again, faster, back towards the mess hall, trying to clear his head. Thoughts of his family circled around his brain as he hurried back - how hard the first year without his dad was, the worry and near constant fear of something happening to his dad while he was overseas, his mother's struggles to make ends meet without his income - and no matter how hard he try, Sam couldn't chase them away completely. 

When he stumbled into the mess hall, the others were seated at a table near the back with plates already half-empty. Sam hurried and grabbed something to eat and took his spot between Gabriel and Chuck. When asked where he'd been hiding that morning, he deflected the question and turned his attention to his food. 

****

 

The thought of his dad leaving sparked a series of other painful memories for Sam through the rest of the day, and they were starting to weigh heavy on his mind. 

He didn't want to think of how alone he felt at home, how scared he was when he would hit his low points and have no-one there to talk to him, how worried he was for his father, or how much he missed his mother and brother.... 

After breakfast, Sam slipped away from the others and headed back to the cabin, laying on his bed and staring at the bottom of Chuck's mattress. He contemplated writing another letter home, but decided against it. The last thing he needed was his mother worrying about him and asking if he wanted to come home. 

Because if he felt like he did now when his mother returned his letter, he might have went. 

Sam shut his eyes as he thought about what would happen when he went back home. He would be alone again, all day, for the rest of the summer. No mom, no dad, no Dean, except for Skype calls and for a couple hours in the evenings. He didn't want to go back to that right now. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he  _ could _ . Not when he had all of his friends bustling around him, keeping him company. The silence would suffocate him after all of this. 

Although right now, the silence of the cabin was welcoming. Sam curled up on his bed and lay there for the better part of an hour, until he saw a familiar mop of blond hair peeking in through one of the windows.

"Sam?" Gabriel poked his head inside the door and frowned when he saw Sam lying there on his bed, looking completely miserable. "Hey, you alright?" 

"I'm fine, Gabe." Sam muttered, turning away from the other boy. 

He heard a sigh, followed by footsteps, and felt the edge of his bed sink down as Gabriel sat down beside him, waiting. "Bullshit you're fine. I know that look Sam. I've _ made  _ that look enough times to know you're crashing. And I'm not letting you. So..." There was a hand on Sam's shoulder, and Gabriel turned him enough so he was able to see his face, and the seriousness in his expression was enough to tell Sam he wasn't dropping this. "It's time to talk." 

Sam sighed and kicked Gabriel off his bed for a moment so he could sit up, and then the other boy was back beside him. "I just... started thinking about home."

Gabriel waited a moment for him to continue, and when he didn't, asked, "What about home?" 

Sam shrugged. "Nothing, just... Home." 

"Sam... What were you thinking about? You can talk to me." 

Jeez. He really was going to have to talk, wasn't he? Sam hesitated for a moment, picking at a chipped nail, as he thought about how to start. "My dad left when I was ten. He moved in with some lady named Kate. They have a kid. Name's Adam. My dad, uh, he got deployed last year - He's in Iran right now." 

It was silent in the room for a few moments, Gabriel not wanting to say anything yet, and Sam fighting with himself to open up about it. "Mom had to take on a second job to keep us afloat. Dean - my older brother - he started working, too, to help out. I get up in the morning, Mom's walking out the door, and Dean's either asleep or not home. I hate being alone all the time. I hate not having my mom there, I hate not having my dad around, or either of my brothers. I hate how quiet the house is when I'm there." 

Gabriel had a lot of working theories about what might have happened to land Sam at camp, but that wasn't it. He knew the feeling, though, and his heart went out to the kid. "I'm sorry, Sam. I really am." Gabriel replied. After a beat, he asked, "Why isn't your brother around so much?" 

"Dean... He has this  _ friend _ named Cas. And they're  _ always _ together when Dean's not working. He's either at our house, or Dean's over at his." 

The tone that was implied suggested that it wasn't as simple as regular friends. Gabe snorted. "So you're, what, jealous of your brother's boyfriend?"

Sam rolled his eyes, smirked, and shrugged again. "Not really, but I do wish I could see him now and then. Now stop interrupting." He glared. "You wanted to hear this, now listen." 

"Sorry." 

 

" _ Anyways _ , Dean is always with Cas. Mom gets home, I get to see her for a couple hours, then she's off again. She gets home when I'm in bed. If I counted up all the hours, and minutes I get to see them, it would probably only add up to just a couple weeks out of the year. And I can't go to my dad's, because Dad's not there."  

"Do you miss him?" 

"Yeah, I do. I hate having to worry about him, you know? Every time the phone rings, I'm afraid that it's gonna be The Call, you know? The one that's gonna tell us my dad's not coming home. I hate being there when the phone rings." 

Gabriel did know that feeling. He laid a hand on Sam's shoulder, trying to offer some kind of comfort to him, something to promise  _ you're not alone _ without having to actually say it. 

Quiet. The ticking of the clock was the only noise in the cabin for what felt like forever. Sam wondered why Gabriel was so quiet. He wondered what he thought of him after his little tale. 

Another beat, and Gabe turned to him with one of the biggest smiles Sam had ever seen, and said, "Tell you what, Sam, if you make it out of this summer without wanting to kill me, and we're still friends at the end of camp, I'll come see ya now and then." 

Dammit. Way to go, Sam. Make him feel sorry for you, make him feel obligated. "Gabe, I--" 

"Where ya from, Sam?" 

"Lawrence." 

Gabriel's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I'm in Topeka. It's thirty minutes, and I have a car. I'll drop in and check on you now and then, alright?" 

The look on his face suggested that this wasn't up for a discussion. His mind was made up, and Sam could tell just from the little bit he knew about Gabriel, that when he wanted something bad enough, he was going to get it. One way or another. 

And hey, Gabriel was loud enough that it might drown some of the overwhelming quiet out of the house for a couple hours... 

Sensing that Sam was really thinking about it, Gabriel pressed on. "It won't be too much trouble, kiddo. I can drop by once or maybe twice a week, keep ya company 'til someone gets home...?" 

A wave of relief shot through Sam as he thought about actually having someone there now and then. Maybe going home would actually be somewhat bearable. Sam looked up at him with a bit of challenging smirk on his face. "We'll see where we stand by the end of summer." 


	5. Chapter 5

Of course there were going to be questions. Sam knew there would be. He just didn't expect them so soon after he left the cabin with Gabriel's arm around his shoulder, telling him things in such a soft voice that Sam couldn't believe it was coming from the counselor. 

 

The rest of Cabin 13 was waiting just a little ways away, very obviously waiting on them. As soon as they heard them coming, all four heads shot up, then the questions started. "Sam, are you okay?" "Sam, what happened?" "Do you need to talk about it?" 

 

He knew they were concerned, but really, Sam felt more like he was being hounded by paparazzi than surrounded by his friends. And Gabriel wasn't much of a bodyguard. Gabe tried, he did, but with four other boys talking over him, there was no way they were listening to anything he was saying. 

 

The questions were really starting to irritate him. The last thing that he wanted was to answer them right this minute. It wore him out enough that he discussed it with Gabriel, let alone the others. "Guys," Sam tried to say, but his voice was lost in a curious chorus of the others. He shut his eyes and took a breath, his jaw clenched as he tried to remain calm. Getting angry at them wasn't going to do much other than make himself look like an ass, and if the way he'd treated Gabe was anything, he already did. 

 

Gabriel must have sensed something was up, because Sam felt a hand on his back, which he assumed was a warning to calm down. 

 

"Alright, alright!" Sam could hear Chuck yelling - surprisingly loud - at the others, and suddenly he was in front of them, sticking himself between them and Sam. "Will you guys calm down for a minute? Maybe he doesn't wanna talk about it right now, did you think about that?! I know you're concerned, but Jeez, give the guy some space, will ya!?" Chuck was shouting by now, and things went dead silent as they stared at him in shock.

 

Sam had never once in his life imagined that Chuck could be that aggressive, and the fact that he  _ could _ both amused and frightened him a little. 

 

Apparently, the others thought so too, because they immediately backed off. 

 

"Thank you. Now I think you all owe Sam an apology." Chuck sighed, turning around and shooting Sam and Gabriel both a bit of a shy little smile before patting his friend timidly on the back and heading for the cabin. 

 

There was a brief pause, and then the four boys were apologizing to Sam for being nosy, and Sam accepted them with a tight but genuine smile, and a promise he would explain later on once he'd calmed down some. 

Once the others were gone, and it was just the two of them, Gabriel leaned heavily against Sam shoulder, and Sam could feel him shaking. He glanced at the other boy out of the corner of his eye, and after hearing how he was breathing, could only assume Gabriel was /laughing/ about what just happened. He had to admit, seeing shy little Chuck actually getting that upset was a bit funny. It was bizarre, seeing his normally calm friend explode like that. 

The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed to Sam, and before too long, he was laughing right along with Gabriel, the two of them leaning on each other, snorting and giggling until they had tears in their eyes. 

It felt  _ so good _ to laugh like that again. It was the first time in a long, long time that Sam could remember feeling  carefree enough  _ to _ laugh, and a lot of it was because of Chuck, but some of it was because of Gabriel. For finally opening up about his past and getting it off his chest, and for how damn infectious the other guy's happy mood was in that moment. 

Sam looked up at Gabe once they'd calmed down some, and the other looked back at him. Gabriel smiled so hugely at Sam that he couldn't help but return it. The look on Gabriel's face - the pure  _ joy _ that Sam found in his eyes and curling his lips into a smile - was something that Sam was unable to look away from, even after the laughter died away completely. 

***** 

Chuck was pretty much the talk of the group for the rest of the day. Once everyone was sure Sam wasn't going to kill them, and Chuck wasn't in danger of screaming at them anymore, the attitude of Cabin 13 was joking, and back to normal. 

Sometime after they'd all gotten settled in for the night, Sam decided it was time for an explanation. Once conversation had died down somewhat, he sat up in his bed and cleared his throat, trying not to settle on one face for too long and let his nervousness get the better of him. "Um... hi. My name is Sam Winchester. I'm sixteen years old. And..." He looked up again and took a breath. "My story - it uh, it's not as grand as some of your guys'. Really, in comparison, it's a little... pathetic." He swallowed, and his eyes flickered across the room to Gabriel, who was watching him with encouragement. 

Sam would be lying if he said that he didn't blush under the weight of that gaze.  

"I guess I owe a bit of an explanation,” He sighed, and finally told his friends his story. 

*** 

Sam hated to admit that he felt better after getting some of that off his chest. The support he got from his friends made his heart feel a bit lighter, and the promises of visits and weekly Skype calls made him feel like he had something to look forward to when he went home. 

**** 

Two days later, Sam received a letter from home. 

It was from his mother, explaining that she and Dean missed him, and that the house was empty without him, everybody kept asking about him, she hoped he was having fun, and she couldn't wait for him to get back. 

 

Sam laughed about it for a moment and then wrote her back.

**** 

Gabriel was relieved that things were starting to feel better where Sam was concerned. In the days that followed Sam's confession, the air in their cabin felt lighter, and he felt like he might actually be able to  _ breathe _ in there without it offending the younger boy to the point he got punched. 

He was also relieved that Sam had finally,  _ finally _ opened up some about why he was there. He knew that had to be a load off his shoulders, even if he couldn't see it just yet. 

Gabe was in charge of organizing activities this particular morning. He had the idea of maybe sending the kids off the grounds in groups with $50 each. Whoever came back with the most candy for his rapidly diminishing stock won. Something told him that might not go over well with the other counselors, or Mr. Singer, but he thought it would be fun. 

Gabriel was walking down by the lake as ideas tossed lamely around in his head for things to do, and a small part of him wished he'd run into Sam while he was out here. Sam was a creative guy, he might be able to come up with something better than Gabriel could (not to say that he wasn't creative himself, but most of his ideas involved some kind of prank-- aah, that was it). Gabe chuckled to himself when the idea came to him that the kids might enjoy going after camp director Robert Singer for an activity this afternoon. "Oh, this'll be fun!" He laughed to himself, then made a beeline back to his cabin to run the idea by his group, and then the other counselors. 

The challenge was simple: swipe the original camp flag from Mr. Singer's office. Winning cabin would be rewarded with something to be announced later. 

Cabin 13’s lucky kid was none other than Chuck, who put up one hell of a protest.

"You're small, Chuck. You'll be able to slip in and out before the rest of these meatheads realize you're gone." Gabriel explained. "You're perfect for this."

I jus-- I just - I just think - I mean maybe y-you could find someone else...?" 

"You'll be fine, kiddo." Gabriel smiled, clapping him on the back and sending him off with the other kids. 

Should have been simple. Should have been in and out, but of course things could never be that easy, could they? 

He should have guessed he was making a mistake when Chuck shuffled away with the rest of his group. He should have caught onto the anxiety in his eyes when he looked back at him, but Gabe just thought he was being Chuck and shot him an encouraging smile and a thumbs up before walking off to join the other counselors. 

The fun part was watching everyone plan together ways to get inside. Cabins regrouped after 10 minutes, trying to figure out the best ways to sneak in, and navigate their way through the main offices. Gabriel watched Sam clap Chuck on the back, and the other kids shoot words of encouragement at him before he joined the other kids who would be going in too. 

Gabriel should have sent someone else. He knew it, but he wanted to push Chuck a little, send him out of his comfort zone and work on his anxiety. He knew he shouldn't have, but he did it anyways. 

Chuck, needless to say, was the smallest of the whole bunch. The other guys towered over him, and Chuck shot nervous glances up at their backs. 

"Okay, guys," Gabriel made his way to the front of the crowd, a grin on his face, "your objective is to secure Mr. Singer's flag he keeps in his office. But no fighting over it, guys. The thing's older than dirt and it's got enough rips and tears in it that one wrong touch and the thing's gonna disintegrate. Handle it with care, alright?" He paused for a moment, and then stepped out of the way, yelling at them all to go. 

Chuck started out in the back, but somehow, managed enough strength to push his way clear to the front by the time they reached the main lobby of the building. He sped his way down the hall and took a shortcut that was pointed out to him by Kevin, who had been to see Bobby a few times in their few weeks here. 

He slipped away from the main group and sprinted back to Mr. Singer's office, He started looking around for the flag, panicking when he still hadn't found it and heard footsteps thundering down the hall. His breathing was starting to get heavy, and he almost gave up right then, when he spotted it. 

The flag was inside a picture frame behind Mr. Singer’s desk, hidden by his chair and an assortment of other things. Chuck had no idea how much time he had before the others showed up, so he immediately got to work getting it out. 

Apparently he wasn't quick enough, because he was still working on it when the group of boys reached the office, and made a beeline for the frame. Chuck had just enough time to drop it before he was pushed and shoved around in the crowd as campers pushed and shoved at each other to get the flag free. He was knocked to the ground and felt his chest tighten up as he crawled back into the center of things, not wanting to let his friends down. He caught sight of the bottom corner of the flag flapping around in the hubbub and he tugged on it. Hard. 

_ rrrriiipppp _

 

Everything went dead silent as the crowd stepped back, leaving only Chuck and a boy from Cabin 4 holding two pieces of the ancient piece of fabric in their hands. Chuck's eyes went huge and his legs wobbled as he stared at the ripped thing in his hands and started hyperventilating. He ripped the flag. He ripped it! He let his friends down, and he was probably going to get kicked out of camp now, because he  _ ripped the flag in half _ . 

His legs shook until they finally gave out and Chuck fell to the ground, unable to get his breathing under control, and curled into a ball right there on the floor with the swatch of fabric clenched tightly in his fists.  _ Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, he let everyone down, he ripped the flag, he was going to be kicked out, oh god, oh god, oh god _ .

Chuck didn't notice when one of the other guys left to get someone, or when the rest of the kids all but ran out of the room to give him some space. Only one or two stayed while they waited for Gabriel, who dismissed them on arrival. 

"Hey, Chuckie?" He barely heard Gabriel over his own breathing. "Hey, Chuck, it's okay, buddy. It's alright." Gabriel stayed with him for several minutes and Chuck was showing no signs of calming down, so he did the only thing he could think: he picked the boy up and hurried him off to the infirmary, where he was placed on a bed, muttering to himself about letting everyone down. 

 

Chuck was crying by the time Sam showed up, and was still shaking, still gasping for air, and missed something Gabriel said to him. He’d started hyperventilating again and Chuck curled himself into an even tighter ball, obscuring Gabe from his vision for the time being. 

“Is he okay?” Sam asked, standing a little ways back from the others. 

Gabriel nodded, turning away from the younger kid to glance at Sam. “Yeah, he should be fine in awhile… Um, Sam, do you think you could do me a favor?”

“Sure,” 

“Run back to the cabin and, behind my bed, there should be an old guitar case. Bring that back here, would you?” 

Another nod, and Sam was off, flying like a bat out of hell. 

~~~~

Gabriel had to give Sam credit; the kid was fast. It only took him about five minutes to grab his guitar and come sprinting back with it (not that Gabriel was counting, or anything). He uttered a thank you to the moose of a boy, and Sam sat down a little ways away, wanting to stay but also wanting to give Chuck some space. 

 

Gabe set the guitar case in his lap and stared down at it for a moment or so before finally opening it. His eyes flashed to Sam before picking it up and and taking a breath. “Now, before you start getting excited, Winchester, just know that I don’t do this. So don’t ask about it later.” Another breath, and Gabriel started picking around on the guitar some, playing the chorus riff from a song here and there, hoping it calmed Chuck down a little. He started playing one older country song, and before he knew what he was doing, he was singing along with it.

 

_...What'chu wanna do?  _

_ I think I could stay with you _

_ For awhile, maybe longer if I do... _

He thought he saw Chuck loosening up some, so he kept singing, trying to ignore the amused look Sam was giving him, and hoped this was working to bring Chuck back to them. 

It took a little while, but the kid finally came around. He lay there listening for a little while, before he felt like he could sit up, and looked confusedly at Gabriel. "I didn't know you played..." He muttered. 

Gabe grinned at him and shrugged it off, still avoiding Sam’s gaze. "Nobody ever asked."

"You should play for all of us sometime." 

Gabriel shook his head. "Only if you sing too, Chuckie. Didn't you say you once that you were a musician?” Chuck paled a little at that, and even more when Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and handed the guitar to him, asking him to play. “Show me what’cha got, kiddo.”

It took a lot of encouragement and teasing from both Gabriel, and a challenging grin from Sam,, but Chuck finally started picking around at the guitar and sang for them.

He lost himself in the song he was playing, and faintly at first, Chuck started to sing. 

_...He remembers he was twelve years old _

_ A champ in every way or so he was told  _

_ And the path it seemed so clear ahead of him  _

_ Now it's just a race he cannot win.... _

_ He can't afford to leave _

_ Listens to his needs _

_ It makes him feel so deep _

_ He's a boy in need.. _

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing, couldn't believe Chuck was  _ actually _ singing, and that he was that  _ good _ . He could only sit there, his arms crossed over his chest and a bewildered smile on his face. Chuck kept going until his song was over, then Sam listened as his friend shyly explain it was an original song of his, and that he had a bunch more like it written in a notebook at home. Chuck then shyly handed the guitar back to Gabriel and stood. 

"I'm fine now," Chuck assured them, and promised to get Inias or Kevin to walk back with him just to make sure. 

Gabriel stuck the guitar back in its case and stood to leave, a blush coloring his cheeks and a grimace pulling at his lips when he saw Sam still sitting there, smirking at him. "I had no idea you could play." He said, indicating to the guitar. 

"Nobody asked." Gabriel repeated, and if his heart fluttered a little at Sam’s answering laugh, he wouldn't admit it. 

"Nobody knew." Sam countered, standing and taking a few steps towards Gabriel. "Chuck is right, you should put on a show for us sometime." 

"I can promise that none of you guys want to listen to me caterwauling all night."

"Maybe we do." 

Gabriel rolled his eyes and snorted at Sam. "Why don't you sing and I'll play?" 

"Can't." Sam explained. "Tone-deaf." 

"Are you really tone-deaf or are you just nervous?" 

Sam didn't have an answer for that and he didn't provide one. That was answer enough for Gabriel. He laughed at his friend and clapped him on the back as he went by him on his way out. 

***** 

As it turned out, Chuck wasn't the one that had to worry about getting in trouble for the flag. The honor for that one fell to Gabriel himself. A "reliable source" had informed Bobby about who was behind the flag-stealing prank, and Gabe was immediately called into the office. 

"I should fire you," Bobby said as soon as Gabriel for sat down. "Do you have any  _ idea _ how brainless that was?" 

Gabriel didn't even argue. He sat there, ramrod straight, lips pressed gently together, and stared straight at Mr. Singer. "I'm sorry, sir. It wasn't my intention for the flag to get ripped. I just thought it might be fun for the boys to try something unconventional." He explained.

Bobby watched the boy for a few long seconds, trying to decide if he thought he was being honest or not, before sighing and removing his hat from his head and running his hand back through his thinning hair.  "I ain't gonna fire you, but you have to understand the severity of your little practical joke." He paused for a moment. "You're on toilet duty, lunch duty, and any other duty I can think of until I decide you've payed me back for the flag. Understood?" 

Gabriel only nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Singer." He left after that, relief and dread both filling his heart at what lay ahead of him. 

He left the office with his shoulders sagged, but happy that he wasn’t being let go. He loved this job, he loved the boys, and he didn’t want to leave them halfway through the summer. Sam and Chuck especially. 

"Don't worry, Gabe." A voice was coming up behind him. "I'll see to it that your kids are taken care of." 

"What are you talking about, Luke?" Gabriel bit, keeping his eyes straight ahead. 

 

"You know, since you're being fired and all. I'll see to it  _ personally  _ that they’re looked after. " 

Gabriel thought he had an idea of who might have said something to Bobby about the prank. He stopped, finally turning to face the other counselor with a look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean, I'm getting fired? Mr. Singer was really cool about the whole thing, admitted it was an accident. I'm fine." He really had to fight not to smirk at the anger in the other guy's face. 

"Well, I guess that's pretty fortunate then, isn't it?" Luke snapped, turning on his heel and stomping off in the opposite direction. 

Gabriel just chuckled and continued on his way. 

**** 

When he got back to the cabin, the boys were all sitting around waiting for him. "Well?" Sam asked, already on his feet and heading towards Gabriel with a look of concern in his eyes. 

"I'm fine. I've got bathroom, lunch, and whatever kind of duties that Bobby can think up until God knows when, but I'm still here." Gabriel sighed and looked around at the boys, feeling disappointment seep into his bones. "It means I'm gonna be gone a bit more, but I'm not giving up on you guys. I swear I’m not giving up on you.”

Relief. That’s what Sam felt as Gabriel spoke. He didn’t want him to go, not really. Despite from the animosity he felt towards him at the beginning of the summer, Gabe was starting to grow on him. Although he felt bad for him, having to take the fall for it all. Yes, it was his initial idea, but all other counselors went along with it, too. It seemed unfair to him that just Gabriel was taking the blame here. 

He didn't say anything about it, because the older boy looked tired enough as it was and he knew it would probably just lead to an argument, but he knew that it wouldn't be fair to make him do all of this by himself. 

Sam knew he had to do something about it, but he wasn't sure  _ what _ just yet.

***** 

After Gabriel saw the boys off for the morning, he was off for the bathrooms with a bucket, scrub brush, and rubber gloves. 

He got started at the far end of the bathroom, thinking that it might be a bit more encouraging to work his way towards the door than the other way around. Gabe wished he had been able to bring his iPod to camp with him, or at the very least a radio. Cleaning by himself, with nothing much else than the sound of the bristles scraping against the tile floor, was almost maddening. 

In fear of someone overhearing him, he didn't dare sing to pass the time, although now and then he would take to humming to himself for some noise. 

Gabriel was almost finished with the bathroom when Sam poked his head inside, guilt flowering in his chest at seeing Gabriel having to do this himself. “Hey, Gabe,” 

Gabriel nearly jumped out of his skin when Sam spoke, and he turned his head, flashing the other boy a weak little smile. “Hey, kiddo.” Sam still was hanging around near the entrance, hesitating and brushing strands of hair behind his ear to stall. “You need somethin’, Sammy?” 

“I - I just thought… Maybe you’d, uh, want some company or something.” Sam’s eyes turned to his feet, and Gabriel figured if he got up close to him he’d see a blush on his cheeks. “I - I can just go.” 

Gabe set his things down and smirked at Sam, waving him forward. “I don’t think crabby ol’ Singer said I couldn’t have some company while I work. Feel free.” 

Sam hurried his way into the bathroom and leaned against one of the stalls, watching Gabe with his arms folded across his chest. “So, um… is there anything I can do to help you with this?” 

“It’s not you who did it,” Gabriel shook his head, waving off Sam’s help. “I shouldn’t have suggested the prank, it was dumb. And this’ll be over in no time, then I’ll be back to annoying you guys to the point you wish I was still doin’ this.” 

“I highly doubt that, Gabe.” 

“Thought you weren’t so fond of me, Samster?” Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, grinning. “Change your mind?” 

“Keep it up with the nicknames and I’ll change it right back.” Sam replied, though he couldn’t quite keep himself from smiling. 

***********

Sam stayed with him until he was finished, and honestly, Gabriel was glad for the company. It made things go by a little faster. He stuck by his side until Gabe said he needed to go start setting up for lunch, and if the boys were still there when it was finished, he’d stop by and eat with them. 

Sam nodded, said a quick goodbye, and rushed off to the mess hall to find their friends.

Gabriel couldn’t help but smile as Sam left, and he stood there, watching him go for a moment before finally taking off after him, and around to the back of the building. He barely got a hello in when someone handed him a hairnet and waited until he put it on before letting him go to the front to help dish out food to the campers. 

 

He spotted the boys walk in together, slightly sunburned (and in one case, out of breath with windblown hair) but laughing with each other. The sight was a huge relief for Gabriel. He might not have been doing a fantastic job his first year, but the boys were doing okay. They were at least a little happy here, with each other, and that was enough for him. Gabe let his shoulders relax some and kept an eye on them until he was free to join them at their table.

*****

Of course they stayed behind until he was finished working. He should have expected them to, but it still made him feel good knowing they waited. Gabriel brought his plate over and plopped down next to Sam, a happy sigh falling from his lips at being able to sit down again. “You didn’t have to wait, you know? You’re probably missing out on some fun.” 

Protests went up, the boys insisted on staying with Gabe instead of going out with the rest of the camp, because it wasn’t as much fun without him, and it would be rude to leave him there alone. As they talked, it became clear to Gabe that none of them seemed too happy to see their counselor working the lunch line, but the most vocal about it was Sam. 

"I just don't see why you're the one that has to be punished for this. If the others didn't think that was a good idea, then they should have said something." He complained. 

Gabriel shook his head. "Sam, it's fine. It was either this, or get fired, and I've grown kinda sorta attached to you guys, and I don't necessarily wanna leave you guys alone this summer to have fun without me." He wiggled his eyebrows at Sam, hoping to pull a smile out of him, but it only deepened the younger boy's frown. 

Sam shook his head and got to his feet, shooting Gabriel a look. “It’s just not fair, is all.” He took his tray and empty plate away, and hurried out of the mess hall without another word.

**** 

It took a few days for Sam to figure out Gabriel's schedule. After the first day, Gabe would be up nearly before dawn to get the bathrooms cleaned up and make sure they were ready for the "morning rush", then off to confer with the other counselors for the day's activities, then back to wake them up, then rushed off to the mess hall to help with breakfast. 

If Sam was going to pull this off, it was going to take work, but he had every confidence in himself that he could do it. 

***

On Wednesday evening, Sam had sneaked into the supply cabin, grabbed an extra bucket, some rags, scrub brushes, and a few bottles of cleaner. He then rushed it back to their cabin, and stuffed it under his bed until morning.

Thursday, Sam woke up at 4:30, grabbed his things, and slipped out into the quiet, pre-dawn morning. In fear of alerting someone what he was doing, he didn't dare turn on the overhead lights of the bathroom, instead working by the glow from the camping flashlight they had in their cabin. It took him nearly an hour and a half, but he got the entire thing cleaned, and barely got his things packed up when he saw Gabriel stumbling his way out to him. 

Sam slipped out the other door and waited until Gabriel was inside before sprinting back to the cabin and hiding his things under his bed. He lay there, completely still and trying to breathe normally for a few moments, trying to get back to sleep but failing miserably in his excitement. Hopefully, Gabe hadn't realized he was gone - he didn't think he did, considering how tired he looked on his way out there. 

After about five minutes, Gabriel came back, his bucket creating a bit of racket outside the door before he came back in. Grumbling, he set everything back down, flopped onto his bed, and fell back into bed to sleep in just a few moments.. Sam smiled to himself, turned over onto his side, and listened to Gabriel snoring until he finally followed suit. 

****

Gabriel was up again in about an hour, having to leave for breakfast prep with some of the other staff. There was no real way Sam could help with that one without getting found out, but at least he could help Gabriel get an extra hour of sleep in the morning. That was good enough for now. 

Gabriel created enough noise on his way out that it woke Sam up again, so he decided to go for a run. The thought entered his mind about mentioning helping Gabriel out to Bobby so some of the strain would be off of his shoulders. Although he wasn't sure Mr. Singer would go for it or not. Still, though, it would be be better than sneaking around. And he had to try, for Gabriel’s sake. 

  
He spent the majority of his run rehearsing what he might say to Mr. Singer when he had the chance, but nothing Sam came up with felt convincing enough. It seemed the older man was set on his punishment, and seeing as Sam had no real pull in the issue, he would either have to think on it more, or let it go. And Sam wasn't about to let this go just yet. 

Though, he decided to set the subject aside for the time being, since he was so tired. He wasn’t thinking straight, and maybe the other guys would have an idea about what he could say later on. He saw them all heading out for breakfast when he got back to the cabin, and instead of going back to the showers to clean up a bit, Sam followed after them and smiled hugely when he saw Gabriel dishing out breakfast inside. 

"So will you guys help me?" Sam had brought his idea forward later that afternoon as they were walking back from the lake. 

"Of course we will." Chuck confirmed, shooting Sam a small little smile. He thought that maybe all of them should pitch in to help out with Gabriel - him especially, since he was the one that ripped the flag - but he didn't say anything. Sam seemed to want this to be something for just him for whatever reason, and Chuck was going to respect that. 

Sam returned the smile and clapped the smaller boy on the arm, opening his mouth to say something when he noticed Gabriel coming from their cabin and carrying the cleaning supplies with him. "I'll catch you later on, guys, I'm gonna - I mean, I've got something I have to do." Without giving a further explanation, Sam took off in Gabriel's direction as fast as his feet could carry him. 

"That's kinda weird, don't you think?" Kevin asked, staring after Sam. 

Chuck shrugged, turning his attention to the boy beside him. "He feels guilty, and he wants to help. Maybe he's gonna ask Gabe what he thinks about it." 

"Maybe." Kevin snorted. Maybe it could be that, but he didn't think so. 

***** 

"Gabe!" Sam called, running up to the other boy. "Gabe, wait!" 

Gabriel turned, giving Sam a smile and a half-wave as he ran up to him. "What's up, Samsy?" 

Sam shrugged, slightly out of breath but happy. "You want some company out here again?" He asked, unable to keep the hopefulness out of his eyes and voice. 

Gabe considered this for a minute. He would like to have the company, definitely, but it wouldn't be fair to Sam to keep him there the whole time, especially if he started expecting it. "Um... You can come out if you want, but I'm not gonna force you, kiddo." 

 

"I'll come." Sam grinned, starting after Gabriel as he made his way to the bathroom. "The guys are just gonna hang out for awhile anyways. They're tired, and it's hot. They can get along without me." 

Gabe would have been lying if he said he wasn't relieved to hear that. "Great." 


	6. Chapter 6

"I still think you shouldn't have to do this all by yourself." Sam said, hopping up onto one of the sinks and watching Gabriel get started. 

 

"Yeah, well, it was either this or get fired," he replied, picking a spot near the back to start. 

 

Sam sighed and shook his head, not wanting to press the issue with Gabriel farther right now. He'd have help soon enough, one way or another. "You think it's okay, me hanging out here with you like this?" 

 

"Are you trying to find an out, Sammikins?" Gabriel asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Because you're the one who followed me out here. I didn't tell you to come along."

 

"That's not what I'm saying at all!" Sam replied, shooting Gabe a look. "I just mean, do you think you'd get in any more trouble if they found me here while you're working?" 

 

Gabriel shrugged, not seeming too concerned about it. "If they do, they can't really do much else to me. And I don't see what there is to get mad over, you're not helping. You're just talking to me." He chuckled, peeking out to look at the boy sitting on the sink. "You really don't have to stay out here, you know. I'm fine by myself. Besides that, you're missing out on camp stuff. Isn't that why you're here?" 

 

Now it was Sam's turn to shrug. "I'm here because I want to be happy again. And honestly, I'm happier sitting on this sink, watching you, than surrounded by guys I don't know." 

 

Gabriel didn't say anything after that, just leaned back over the toilet he was cleaning with fiery red cheeks, and tried not to let those words circle around in his head while he cleaned. 

 

When Gabe didn't answer, Sam cleared his throat and tried something else. "How long have you worked here?" 

 

"This is my first year." Gabe answered a moment later. "I was a camper here last summer. I, uh, I wanted to make sure kids had a good year this year, so I came back to counsel. Did I tell you that already?" 

"I don't know." Sam shrugged, not really bothering to try to remember. "What were you in for?" 

Gabriel sighed, peeking out from the stall again. "Now that, Samster, is a long story for another day. Let's keep it light right now, alright?" He couldn't exactly keep the desperation out of his voice there, so Sam nodded. "I'll tell you if you really want to know, but just... not today." 

"Alright." Sam agreed, switching the conversation to something more appropriate for the time being. 

****

When Gabriel finished, it was still hot enough to fry an egg on the grass, so both boys headed back into the kitchen and swiped six sodas from the back and met up with the rest of the guys down by the water. 

"You know, there's a lot of other shit you guys can do other than sitting around down here all the time." Gabriel commented, taking a pull from his bottle. "You could try wallet making, or make friendship bracelets, or something other than sitting here. Seriously, doesn't it make you have to pee?" 

Kevin snorted his drink and started coughing something awful, and Chuck just smiled at him. "All the other guys are off doing other stuff that involves teamwork and socializing. I like coming down here and watching the water. It's good. It helps with the anxiety. Kevin thinks so, too." 

"Yeah," the other boy agreed, "The quiet is nice. It lets my brain shut off for a bit. And Harry and Inias come out, too sometimes and we all talk." 

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow at them, taking another pull. "You know you're not supposed to really do that, right? Form little cliques like that." 

"What about you two?" Chuck asked, pointing between the older boy and Sam. "You two seem pretty chummy these days." 

"That," Gabriel started, pointing the top of his bottle at Chuck, "is different. I'm your guys' counselor, Sam is under my care. He talks to me about stuff that's bothering him. It's a working relationship." 

Kevin snorted, smirking at the two of them. "Sure it is. And I'm white as a snowflake. Seriously. You're not fooling anybody, guys." 

Sam rolled his eyes, playfully shoving Kevin in the arm. "There's nothing to fool. Gabe's lonely having to clean the bathroom by himself, and you guys are usually busy with other stuff. I'm just sitting in with him while he gets his work done, is all." 

"Okay." Kevin replied, wiggling his eyebrows at Sam. "Whatever you say, Winchester." 

*****

 

Sam woke up extra early one morning from a nightmare about his dad, and lay in bed for a little bit, trying to make himself to calm down. he figured it had to be close to 3:00 in the morning, and with how shaken up he was, he didn't see himself getting back to bed any time soon. So, he did the only thing he could think to do: he grabbed his cleaning supplies from under his bed, and headed out to the bathroom to clean them for Gabriel. 

He worked in heavy silence, his head replaying what little bit of the dream he could remember to the point that it was starting to make him tear up, and the slow, monotone sound of the brushes across the floor and the toilets was starting to drive him insane. He had to do something or else he was going to have an anxiety attack. 

So, Sam did the only thing he thought might help: he started singing. 

_....You gonna do?  _

_ I think, I could stay with you _

_ For awhile, maybe longer if I do _ ...

He'd heard Gabriel singing that the day Chuck ripped the flag, and it'd been stuck in his head ever since. Sam knew he was running a risk of being heard, but he couldn't continue on with no sound other than the brushes. He just couldn't. So he sang under his breath, his thoughts eventually turning to the boy he'd heard singing it just a week or so earlier. 

Gabriel. He'd started the summer off hating his guts, but somehow he'd warmed up to him, and really, Sam liked spending time with him more than really anybody else at camp. He was funny, and had a calming presence about him that Sam liked and needed around right now. He was good to him, even when Sam had been a bit of an ass to him and didn't deserve that kindness, which was something he appreciated. Besides that, he liked Gabe. He liked him a lot, and the thought of spending time with him made him happy. 

Sam found himself smiling at the thought of the older boy, and continued on his work, glad to have that distraction from his earlier thoughts. 

 

****

Sam finished earlier than he thought, and quietly grabbed his things and headed back to his cabin, sliding his stuff under his bed before collapsing down onto it. He lay there for a little while before sleep found him again, and he was thankful for being able to drift off so easily. 

*****

It was three hours later that Gabriel was shaking him awake, telling him it was time to get up. That had to put it around six, and Sam felt like it wasn't nearly long enough to catch up on what sleep he missed. With a groan, the taller boy swung his legs over the side of his bed and ran his hand back through his mop of hair, yawning and wondering why they were being waken up so early. 

"Wassup?" He slurred, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light. 

Gabriel shrugged, looking around his area of the room for something Sam couldn't comprehend right at the moment. "Nothing, I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab breakfast early? I've been told I'm a master at making pancakes." He chuckled, smiling at Sam. 

Sam shrugged, looking around for his shoes. "Okay, sounds good, 'guess," 

He tiredly followed Gabriel to the mess hall, plopping himself in a chair and laying his head on the table as Gabriel headed back to get breakfast started. Sam thought he might be able to get some extra sleep here, but apparently that wasn't to be. 

"You should be careful with him, you know?" Someone asked, seating themselves down beside Sam. 

With a suppressed groan, Sam turned his head and opened an eye at the stranger. It was the one counselor that made Sam a bit uneasy. He thought his name was Luke or Lou or something like that. He couldn't remember. "With who?" 

"Your little boy toy." Luke answered in a bored tone. "He's bad news, kid." 

Sam was  _ so _ not in the mood for this crap right now, and he sat up, glaring at the newcomer. "This is the part where you tell me that he's a heartbreaker, or he has some tragic past that makes him incapable of love, right? Well you're wrong, buddy, it's not like that. You're wasting your time." 

Luke chuckled, casting a glance over Sam's shoulder to the kitchen, where they could hear Gabriel banging around and occasionally cursing. "That's not what I mean. And even if it  _ was _ 'like that', it's none of my business what you two are doing in your private time. I just want you to know that he's not as, ah, what's the word I'm looking for? Stable, as you might think." 

 

Sam was just confused about that. "What?" He asked, squinting at him. 

"Has he ever told you that he was a camper here last summer?" Luke asked, keeping his gaze fixed on Sam in an almost predatory way. When Sam nodded, he continued. "Did he tell you what happened? No? Well, I should imagine so. Your dear little Gabriel almost got a camper killed." 

Sam wasn't sure if he believed this guy or not, but he said nothing, waiting for him to continue if he felt like it. "Yeah?" 

"Y'see, Gabriel does indeed have a bit of a tragic past, but I won't bore you with the details. I'll let him do that. But what it boils down to, is one of the other kids in my cabin was teasing him one afternoon down by the lake, and Gabriel, well, attacked him. Pushed him into the water and beat him until he was unconscious." 

Okay, Sam still didn't know if he bought into it or not. If that were the case, then why in the world would they let him come back as a counselor? That didn't add up, but at the risk of Luke continuing, Sam put on the best shocked expression he could manage, and leaned back in his seat, looking distraught. "You don't think he would do that again, do you?" He asked. 

Luke just shrugged, a sickeningly sweet sympathetic look on his face. "I can't answer that. But I just wanted to let you know... Just in case. Have a good day, Sam." He stood then, casting one more glance to the kitchen, before turning and heading back out. 

When he was out of earshot, Sam snorted at him and rolled his eyes, thinking about how ridiculous the story sounded. He thought he should ask Gabriel about it later on, just to get the real story, but it could wait. He was still tired, and the smell coming from the kitchen was enough to make his mouth water. Sam put all thoughts of his friend being unstable out of his head for the time being, he had more important things to worry about right now. 

**** 

"Alright, Sambert," Gabriel called, poking his head out of the kitchen. "Prepare your mouth for the most orgasmic pancakes you'll ever taste." The older boy set Sam's plate in front of him before taking the seat across from him at the table and grinning to himself before digging in. 

 

With a half-smile, Sam cut a piece off for himself and took an experimental bite, trying to keep his expression neutral so not to give Gabe the satisfaction that, yes, these  _ were _ in fact the best pancakes he'd ever tasted. 

After a few expectant seconds, Gabriel's smile slipped a few inches, and some of his excitement deflated. "Okay, what's the opinion? Where's the orgasmic noises coming out of your mouth that make me start questioning myself? You're letting me down, Sammy." 

Sam was startled into a laugh at hearing that, which caused a piece of his breakfast went down too fast and he started to choke. He pounded at his chest, his mouth open and coughing, trying to get it to go down so he could breathe. 

"Samsy!" Gabriel yelped, getting to his feet, "I was kidding about the seduction thing, kiddo. You can quit sucking the invisible dick now." He clapped Sam on the back, trying to help him out a bit, and finally, the kid was able to breathe again. 

 

"You ass!" Sam cackled, shoving Gabe playfully in the arm. "Any and all chance you had at dating me just went down the drain since you tried to kill me!" 

"Mother always did say I'd never make a good assassin. I guess she was right. Damn." Gabriel shook his head, clapping Sam on the shoulder before returning to his seat. "Seriously though, kid, how's the food?" 

"I hate to admit it, but these are these are the best goddamn pancakes I've had in a long time, if not ever." 

Gabriel's smile returned and his fist shot victoriously in the air, obviously pleased. "Knew I'd win you over one way or another, Samcake!" 

Sam fought a smile of his own and turned to his food, shaking his head slightly. "You can knock it with the nicknames at any time, you know." 

"Ooh, no can do, Samba, they're too much fun!" Gabe chuckled, obviously amused with himself and his ever-growing list of names. "There's too many choices of things that go along with your name." 

Sam wracked his brain trying to think of something, anything, that he could get back at Gabriel with, but they only thing that came to mind was "baby", and god knew what the repercussions might be if he ever used that. So instead, Sam sat there in silence, shaking his head and occasionally shoveling more pancakes into his mouth. 

The two sat in contented silence for a little while, finishing their breakfast, until the other campers came shuffling in. Sam spotted their friends hurrying inside, Harry pointing he and Gabriel out to the others. They craned their necks, trying to get a good look at them, and matching grins spread across their faces. Oh shit, now they were in for it. 

Sam leaned in, not taking his eyes off the others, and whispered. "We've been spotted. The guys are coming this way. There's going to be questions asked." He pulled back, trying to look as casual as possible while the rest of the cabin plopped into the chairs around them, still grinning. 

"You guys are so busted." Harry cackled, glancing between Sam and Gabe. 

"Yeah," Chuck added, "Why all the privacy, fellas?" 

"Because Sam was admitting his feelings for me and didn't want to do it in front of all you gossiping old ladies." Gabriel snorted, raising his eyebrows at them. 

Thankfully, that seemed to shut the guys up for a minute, and Sam leaned back in his chair, obviously relieved. "Since I'm finished, I'm gonna head out. I'll catch you guys later on." He waved goodbye to the rest of them and left, chuckling to himself as he replayed the morning in his head. Despite his near-death experience, that was one of the best mornings he'd had in a long time, and he had Gabriel to thank for that. 

 

****

"You know it's against the rules to date campers, right?" 

Gabriel was on his way back from helping with breakfast, and stopped dead in his tracks, trying to remind himself that hitting him wouldn't do anything except get him in trouble. "What the hell are you talking about, Luke?" 

"Oh nothing, just you and the Winchester kid. You're spending a lot of time with him. People are starting to talk." He smirked. 

Of course they were, Gabriel thought, rolling his eyes. Nobody could mind their own business these days, could they? "Again, I don't know what you're talking about. Sam's a really mixed up kid, he needs someone to talk to. And, you know, I'm his counselor. I don't know if you know this, but counselors are supposed to be there for the kids in their care. They're supposed to  _ help _ them, not leave one in charge while they sneak over to the girls' cabins every chance they get." Gabriel glowered at the other guy, old fury welling up in him. 

Luke just shrugged, a look of false concern on his face that made Gabriel want to smack the shit out of him. "Just be careful. Wouldn't want you getting fired before the summer's over. Especially for some fucked up little brat." He walked away before Gabriel could retaliate. 

"Yeah, I bet you wouldn't," Gabe muttered, hands in his pockets as he headed off to find the others. He didn’t like the way Luke had called Sam “fucked up.” He wasn’t. Sam was one of the most normal people he knew. Anger filled Gabriel’s heart, and part of him wanted to go after Luke, to tell him all the good things about Sam, but it would only add to the rumors that he and Sam were dating. 

____

The next day, Gabriel headed off to the bathrooms at his usual time, only to once again discover that they'd been cleaned already. Half of him wondered who the hell was doing this, if they were doing it to help, or get him fired. Honestly, he wasn't sure which he'd prefer, but both options made him feel useless. He honestly didn't mind getting up and helping out around camp. It gave him some time to think, and some time to spend by himself - not that he was complaining when Sam decided to come along. Having this taken away from him only made him feel bad. Gabriel sighed, flipped the light back off, and headed back to bed.

 

He lay in bed for what felt like hours, unable to shut his brain off so he could get back to sleep.  _ You're useless, _ his mind whispered,  _ You can't do anything right, everybody has to go back behind you and clean up your mess. Why else would someone else be cleaning the bathroom? _ Gabriel drug his hand back through his hair and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to silence the voices in his head. This was the last thing he needed right now. He loved this job, and he loved the guys. He didn't want to lose his job because he had a crash in the middle of camp. 

Gabriel rolled over onto his side, his eyes landing on Sam and Chuck's bunk. He couldn't help but be drawn to Sam's sleeping face, how peaceful the moose of a boy looked when he slept. He adjusted himself to a bit more of a comfortable position, and that's when his eyes caught the shine of something under Sam's bed. Gabe sat up, squinting at it, and curiosity got the better of him when he could make out what it was: a bucket.

Slipping out of bed, he headed over to the other boys' bunk and quietly grabbed it, confused when he saw all the cleaning supplies inside. What would Sam be needing that fo--

Realization dawned on him, and Gabriel slid the bucket back under the bed, shaking his head at the younger boy. It had been Sam, hadn't it? He'd been the one cleaning the bathroom for him behind his back. "Oh, Sam," Gabriel muttered, not knowing what to make of this just yet. He'd have to talk to him about this later, he guessed, but for now, he had sleep to catch. 

He went back to his own bed and lay down and decided to start working on what he'd tell Sam later on about cleaning for him. 

*****

Gabriel never was able to get back to sleep that morning. His brain never shut up about Sam or his self-deprecating thoughts, so he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling until it was time to help with breakfast. 

He made his way into the mess hall, through the back, and got started with prepping things they'd need. 

"So what?" He heard a girl whisper from somewhere outside the storeroom. "Do you think it's true what Luke was saying about Gabriel?" 

"What d'you mean?" Another asked. 

"You know, about he and Sam being...  _ together _ ." 

"Luke's a creep and a liar, I wouldn't put much stock in what he says." 

"Yeah, but what if it's true? I mean, would he get fired? It's kinda creepy to think about." 

"I think you're reading too much into it. Like I said, Luke's a liar, and  _ he's _ creepier than Gabe dating a camper. If they are dating, good for them. I hope they're happy. But I'm serious. Don't listen to him." 

Gabriel had no idea what to make of that conversation. So Luke had been the one to start the rumors? He honestly couldn't say it surprised him much, and if it was as big of a topic as he thought it was, then Bobby would know about it before too long, and it'd be turned into a whole big thing, and he probably  _ would _ end up getting fired. "Goddammit." He whispered, frustrated over it all.

 

He filled his arms with everything he thought they'd need and took it into the kitchen, laying it out, and got started cooking. The conversation between the girls kept coming back to him, and he was really starting to wonder about how this whole thing got started. Did Sam say something? Did he feel something for him other than friendship? Did these guys just watch one too many rom-coms? He honestly didn't know. 

Gabe didn't notice that he'd let the first of his pancakes burn until the smoke was rising up to his eyes. "Fuck!" He yelled, turning the fire off and desperately fanning the air around his face.  _ You can't do anything right, _ said the voice in his head again. Gabriel coughed and took a step back from the smoke, trying to breathe, and drug a hand back through his hair again. He was starting to think it was true. He'd been here three weeks already, and he'd messed up more than he'd done right. At home, he was and always would be in his brother's shadow; the accident, the screw up, the one that probably made it out of Topeka. Here, he would not only be known as the counselor who may or may not have had a fling with a camper, but also the kid that almost killed someone. 

"Dammit," he whispered, frustration creeping into his heart. Why couldn't he do anything right? Why couldn't he be like Michael? Why couldn't he be a hero? 

Tears welled up in Gabriel's eyes but he shut them and took a breath. He wouldn't cry here. He refused to cry right now. Things would be okay. He'd make it through this summer, he had to. If nothing else, he had to for Sam and the others. They were counting on him. 

Part of him considered going to Bobby and asking if he could find someone else on such short notice, but he wasn't sure if he could do it or not. He didn't want to give this up, he loved it here, he loved the boys, but... Maybe they would be better off without him there. 

"Hey, Gabe," 

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned around, unable to stop the flip in his stomach when he saw Sam poking his head through the back door, grinning at him. 

 

"What are you doing here, Sam?" Gabe asked, looking around to make sure nobody'd seen him. "You can't be back here." 

"I'm busting you out, what's it look like? You've been working your ass off, you need a break." 

"Sam--" 

"What if I said Chuck was having a bad anxiety attack, would you come then?" 

Gabriel stopped for a second, having to think about it. " _ Is _ Chuck having a bad anxiety attack?" 

"No, but you could say it." 

"Then I'd be lying, and I'd get fired,and you'd get stuck in a cabin with Luke." Gabriel answered, giving Sam a look. "I'll be done in like twenty minutes, can you wait that long?" 

Sam nodded, although he wasn't happy with that answer. He knew better than to argue with the other boy. "Yeah, but I'm waiting out here for you." 

Gabe chuckled, shooing him off. "Do whatever, I'll be out soon." Sam took off after that, and Gabe had to wonder what the hell was so important that he had to try busting him out of here was. 

******

When Gabe finally finished up that morning, he headed out the back door and, true to his word, Sam was there, waiting for him. "Morning." He smiled, giving Sam a small wave. "Now, what was so important that you risked getting caught?" 

Sam shrugged, not really looking at him as he answered. "You've been working your ass off here the last couple weeks, just thought you needed a break is all." 

"Well aren't you thoughtful." Gabe teased, grinning. "It's not actually so bad, kiddo. It's not like a jailbreak. The flag was my idea, it's my job to make it up to Bobby. A little extra work totally beats getting my ass sent home." 

Sam seemed to consider this for a minute, although he wasn't totally convinced. "Yeah, I guess. But still. You deserve some fun once and awhile." 

"Won't disagree with ya there, kiddo. What d'you say we do that? It's hot enough today that we could probably spend the day at the lake and not get in too much trouble for it. Race ya back to the cabin. One, two, three, go!" And with that, he was off before Sam could really think about what happened. 

The younger boy stared after Gabriel for a minute before taking off after him, catching him easily and passing him after a moment or so. "No fair!" He heard him calling. Sam just laughed and didn't stop running until he reached their door. "Not fair, Samcake." Gabe sucked in a breath. "You need smaller legs. Mine can't keep up with yours." 

  
Sam just laughed, heading inside. "I'll get changed, and I'll meet you down there." He rummaged around in his bag for a minute, pulled out his trunks, and headed off to the bathroom. 

 

Gabriel watched him for a minute, chuckling to himself, before grabbing his own and following suit. 

  
  


*******

The water felt cool compared to the heat of the day, and Sam decided if he could never get out, it would be okay with him. Gabriel was floating nearby on his back, eyes closed and looking more relaxed than Sam had seen him since the first couple days at camp. "I told you, you just needed a break from work." 

The other boy's head popped up and he looked at Sam, eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. "You might have been right about that one, kiddo," he agreed, swimming over to him. "I will admit, it's nice not having to worry about five hundred different things all at once, but..." He looked at Sam, the humor gone from his face, and asked, "I don't like leaving the rest of the guys by themselves. Are they doing okay?" 

"They're alright. Chuck's anxiety's been pretty bad in the mornings, but Kevin's been helping him with it a lot. Harry had a bit of a relapse last week, but he's doing okay now." 

"Dammit." Gabriel whispered, closing his eyes and sinking into the water a bit. He was ashamed of himself for leaving the boys alone so much, for not being there like he needed to be. This was his fault for not being around. "I'm so sorry." He told Sam, feeling insanely guilty. 

"For what, Gabe? It's nothing. It's things that would have probably happened no matter who was there. And they're getting worked out. It's fine." 

"But it's my job to be there to help you guys with this shit." Gabe argued, not willing to back down from this. He wasn't being any better a counselor than Luke was for him. He'd been neglecting the boys so badly these last couple weeks... "I'm sorry I've been gone." His breathing had picked up, and he knew if he didn't get out now, he'd have a meltdown on Sam. "I - I have to go, Sam, I'll talk to you later." Without more of an explanation, Gabriel swam back to shore and hurried out of the water, slipping his shoes on and taking off in a random direction. He had to get away from the younger boy. He couldn't handle the guilt he felt for leaving them all alone so much. 

Sam was frozen there, blinking and trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. What had he said that upset Gabriel that badly? Shaking his head, Sam got out of the water and headed back to the cabin to get changed again, and decided to talk to Gabe about it later on. 

_______

The final blow came the following Friday. In a rare happenstance, Gabriel was actually able to catch the guys during one of their activities, and he even was able to help out a little. For the most part, though, he was watching his boys have fun while getting a well-deserved break on the sidelines. 

"You know," Luke's voice came up from behind him, "it looks to me like you're not much better of a counselor than you accused me of being last year."

 

Gabriel sighed, his shoulders slumping, before turning to look up at the son of a bitch. "Maybe so, but at least I actually give a shit about them." 

Luke walked up beside Gabriel and shook his head. "From what I've heard, a couple of your kids had relapses recently, and you were nowhere to be found. What would your brother think of all this, Gabe? You think he'd be proud of you being such a shitty counselor?" 

"Shut. Up." Gabriel warned, trying not to give Luke the satisfaction of letting him see how badly the words affected him. 

"Or would he treat you for what you are: a complete fuck up? Would he stop defending your mistakes, and realize how screwed up his little brother really is?" 

Without saying anything else, Gabriel shot Luke a glare and stomped off, not knowing where he was going but knowing he had to get out of there. 

The worst part was, he actually  _ believed _ that son of a bitch. Scenarios played out in his head of Michael stopping writing to him, and reminding him that he was a screw up, that their parents didn't give a shit, that /he/ didn't give a shit, that everyone would be better off without him, and Gabe didn't realize he was crying until then. His knees gave way and he fell to the ground, sobs escaping his lips and hurt so heavy in his heart that he didn't think he'd be able to get back up. 

"Gabe!" A voice called from somewhere. "Gabe! Hey, you okay?" Footsteps, and then Sam was there, kneeling beside him and trying to figure out what was happening. "Hey, talk to me."

Gabriel looked up at Sam with puffy eyes and took a shaky breath, hating that he was seeing him like this. "I'm fine," he promised, hoping Sam bought it. 

"Come on, get up, we’re getting out of here for a little while." Sam took Gabriel's hands and led him down to the water, making him wait there while he dragged one of the canoes over, and told Gabe to get in. 

Once they were out in the middle of the lake, Sam attacked. "Alright, talk to me. What happened back there, Gabe?" 

 

He really didn't want to talk about it, he didn't want to think about it, either, but he knew Sam deserved some kind of explanation, so Gabriel sucked in a breath and started talking. "Nothing, it was just Luke... He said some things about my brother, and I just snapped. No biggie." 

"You didn't tell me you had a brother." 

"I don't." Gabriel answered. "At least, I don't anymore." He sighed, dipping his hand into the water and trying to think about how he could explain it. "My brother, Michael, he was the golden child. Straight A’s, popular, sports. He even had a scholarship waitin’ on him when he got out of military.  He was everything my parents hoped he'd be, and I... I was the accident. I was the fuck up. I got into trouble, I mouthed off to everyone, and there were a couple times I ran off from home.." 

"Mike went into the service. He got shipped out to Iran 'bout three years ago. He was a month away from coming home, and his jeep, was, uh, it was hit. Suicide bomber. He and three other guys, gone. In the blink of a goddamn eye, my brother was gone." He had to stop for a minute or else he would have started to cry. "I loved my brother, Sam. He was my best friend in the whole world. When he died, I... I didn't handle it well. And rather than talk to me, or send me to a grief counselor, or  _ something _ like normal parents would, mine just swept it under the rug. 'He'll be fine,' my dad said. Well, I wasn't. And when it became apparent I wasn't getting better, then they shipped me out here for the summer.  _ That _ went over good, let me tell you. Luke, the shitstain that was talking to me back there, worst counselor in the goddamn world. He left us alone while he went off with some of the girls, and I had to end up taking over as leader of the group. Which, it helped. A lot. Being able to help out with the other guys... That's why I came back, I wanted to keep that up. And now, I'm fucking up just as bad as he did. I'm so sorry, Sam." 

For the first time since Gabriel started talking, Sam spoke up. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, Gabe." He promised. "What's happening here, it's out of your control." 

"I'm just a fuck up." Gabe continued, as if he'd not even heard him. "And if you were smart, you'd run as far away from me as you can get." 

"I'm not going anywhere," Sam told him, leaning forward and trying to make Gabriel look at him. "You're probably my best friend, Gabe. It's too late for me to go anywhere. And you're not a fuck up. At least not any more than the rest of us. You're a good person. You being here, and doing what you're doing is proof of that. You're nothing like Luke, you're a good counselor." He wished he were better with this stuff. "This has been the best summer of my life, and that's all thanks to you."

  
Gabriel did look up at Sam, his cheeks flooding with color and tears brimming in his eyes. He couldn't fully bring himself to believe what Sam was saying, not yet; he'd see at the end of the summer. Still, though, it was still nice to hear that. He couldn't remember a time in his life when someone had called him a best friend, and to think that came from Sam, the boy who hated him so much at the 

beginning of the summer, well, Gabe would have been lying if that didn't cause butterflies in his stomach. "Thank you, Sam." 

"There isn't anything to thank me for, I'm telling the truth." Sam mumbled, his own cheeks turning pink, and he smiled sheepishly at the other boy. "You're awesome." 

In a burst of emotion, Gabriel leaned forward, pulling Sam into a tight hug and holding him there for a moment, unable to keep himself from crying on the younger boy's shoulder. 

Sam wrapped his arms tightly around Gabe, leaning his chin on his shoulder and promising him that things were okay. He was glad the other boy opened up to him like he had, but he hated that it hurt him so much to do it. He wanted to say that he promised he wouldn't be alone anymore, that he always had him there to count on, but Sam couldn't bring himself to say it. 

 

So instead, when Gabriel started to pull away, Sam leaned in, and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. 


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel responded to the kiss before he really realized what he was doing. It'd been so long since anybody had shown him this much kindness, this much genuine affection, that he couldn't help it. He reached up, cupping Sam's cheek in his hand, leaning into him, and teased Sam's lips open. 

 

It was around then that Gabriel's brain caught up to what his mouth was doing, and he broke it off, wiping his mouth on his hand and looking at Sam with wide eyes. "Sam, what just - I mean, what we did, we..." 

 

The younger boy looked absolutely heartbroken, but nodded. He knew he shouldn't have kissed Gabriel like he had. It was stupid for him to think that he might actually be interested in him. Hell, he wasn't sure if Gabe was interested in guys at all. And even if he was, what would he want with him? "I don't know why I did that, I'm sorry. I - it won't happen again. I... Don't let this change your opinion of me, I swear, I never meant for it to happen, I'm so--" 

 

"Sam!" Gabriel interrupted, taking his hands and trying to get him to be quiet for a minute. "Do not apologize for that. That's not what I meant, I..." He tried to find the words to explain what he was getting at in a way that wouldn't make Sam back off from what just happened. He liked kissing Sam. He liked it a hell of a lot. And if he were being honest, he wanted to do it a lot more. "Sam, it's against the rules for this to happen. I could get in trouble, you could get sent home, and I don't want that." 

 

"I shouldn't have done that." Sam muttered to himself. "God, I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." 

 

"Sam, if you apologize for kissing me one more time, I'm throwing you in the water. Now  _ listen _ to me for a second, will ya?" Gabe shook his head, brushing his thumb across the back of one of Sam's hands, and smiled at him. "Now before you get the wrong idea from what I'm about to say, I want to make one thing clear: I would like to keep kissing you. I would like that a  _ lot _ , but there's something you have to understand: we can both get in a lot of trouble if we're found out."

 

"So nothing can happen between us, I get it." 

 

"You didn't let me finish. What I was going to say, is that, we have to be careful about it. Because dammit, Samsquatch, I've tasted the forbidden fruit, and I'm a greedy son of a bitch, and I want more." That pulled a smile out of Sam, and that eased Gabriel's mind a little. He looked around, making sure they weren't in danger of being caught, and leaned in to kiss him again. "But let me ask you something, kiddo, are you sure this is what you want?" 

Sam thought about it for a second. He knew it was going to be difficult, and the repercussions of it all would be horrible if they were found out, but he was sure of one thing: he liked Gabriel. He liked being with him, he liked the private moments they were able to share with each other, and his heart fluttered every time that he smiled at him. Gabriel, well he didn't exactly make Sam happy, but he gave him hope; he made him think that happiness was in his reach. It had been a long time since he'd felt that way, and Gabe was to thank for it. He wanted to be with him. He wanted everything Gabriel could offer him, and it was worth all the risks. "I'm sure." He answered. 

"Okay then," Gabe smiled, pressing one more kiss to Sam's lips. 

***** 

When Gabriel finally felt like he was calm, he helped Sam put the canoe back, and they headed back towards the rest of camp. Sam was relieved things had gone as well as they did with Gabe back there, and he could only hope that they could do this, that they could pull off a relationship. He liked Gabriel a lot, and when he kissed him... Well, Sam really wanted to keep doing that. 

"You know they're gonna ask, don't you?" Gabriel's voice cut into his thoughts, "About what we were doing out there?" 

"Tell 'em the truth." Sam answered. "It's not like they'll believe it anyways."

 

Gabriel hurried in front of the taller boy, putting a hand out to stop him, and looked up into his eyes. "It's not them I'm worried about. It's Luke, and a few of the other counselors. If they found out, I'd be fired. And you'd be sent home, and... I don't want that. I need to be here for the other guys, and I don't want you to be sent away. I'm serious when I say we can't say anything to anybody."

"I know," Sam replied, laying his hand on top of Gabriel's and squeezing it gently. "I know, Gabe. I won't say anything. Are you ready to go back?" 

A small smile stretched across Gabriel's face and he squeezed Sam's hand back, letting him know he believed him. He really didn't want to. Gabe just wanted to head back to the cabin and hide the rest of the day, preferably with Sam there with him. "Honestly? No. I mean, I am, but, I don't want to spend a lot of time around everyone. What I'd really like is to just go back to bed for awhile and sleep until I forget about what Luke said." 

Sam quickly looked around and leaned in, pecking Gabe on the cheek. "Well, maybe we can do something about it. Tell someone you're not feeling well, and see if you can go back for a bit. And I'll come with you and act as a bodyguard." Sam started off towards the infirmary, hoping that maybe he could convince them to either let Gabe stay there or head back to his own bed for a little while. 

*****

It had taken a bit of convincing, but they did allow Gabe to head back to 13 and take the day to work out what was bothering him, if he agreed to talk to one of them about it later. He did, and Sam had to go back to the others, but managed to sneak away and went to sit with Gabriel in their room. When he got there, the other boy was messing with his guitar, picking around on it. "Hey," he announced, poking his head inside. "I'm here to play nurse." 

"You keep doing shit like this, you're gonna get in trouble. You're supposed to be doing fun stuff out there, build self confidence and all that crap." Gabriel went back to picking. 

Sam shrugged and plopped down on the floor beside Gabriel's bed and looked up at him. "I do that with you, too, you know. Besides that, hanging out here, with you, would make me a hell of a lot happier than being out in the sun all day. At least we have a fan here." 

"Good point, kiddo." Gabe chuckled. 

"What'cha playing?" 

"Just some old rock song my brother liked," he shrugged, continuing to play. 

Sam wanted to ask more about Michael. He wanted to learn more about Gabriel before he originally came to camp, but he didn't figure that was too safe a conversation for right now, so he kept it to himself. "You know, it's funny. The other morning, when you fixed pancakes for us, Luke came in to talk to me." 

Gabriel set his instrument down, looking at Sam with worry and a bit of hastily masked anger. "What'd he want?" 

"He tried to tell me you weren't stable, and we should all be careful around you. What's that guy's problem anyways?" 

"He's mad at me because I almost got him fired." Gabe answered, laying out across his bed. "It's not my fault he was a shitty counselor. Someone had to look out for the other guys, and if he wasn't going to, then I knew I had to do it. You didn't... I mean, he didn't get in your head did he?" 

Sam shook his head and got off the floor, moving to sit with Gabe. "Nah, I told him to screw off." 

"Did he say anything else?" 

That made Sam pause for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to tell him or not. "Well, he, um, he said you... almost killed someone, but I don't believe him there, either." 

"I didn't almost kill anybody. I beat the crap out of someone, though." Gabriel sighed, looking up at Sam regretfully. "This kid, he was talking shit about my brother... It was pretty soon after he died, and I wasn't doing so good, I just... I snapped, Sam. I punched him, and he fell, and I just kept going until he bled." He stared passed Sam, to a spot on the ceiling, and drug a hand back through his hair. "The only reason I didn't get thrown out on my ass was because enough of the guys testified that he started it. He egged me on until I couldn't take it anymore." 

 

Sam lay down beside Gabriel and took his hand, trying to comfort him some. "Well, I'm glad you're still here." He said, squeezing his hand again. 

"Me, too, Sam. Me, too." 

*****

Gabriel eventually dozed off with his arms and legs wrapped around Sam, and the younger boy was too amused to really complain about it. He lay beside Gabe, staring at the ceiling and listening to him snoring, as his mind wandered to thoughts about what all had happened the last few days. 

He felt a stab of pain for the other boy and everything he'd gone through the last year or so. He knew that couldn't have been easy for him, especially dealing with it alone. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a brother that way, and even then to have his parents not give a shit afterwards. How Gabriel had done it, he had no idea, but the strength he had to hold himself together for this long sent a surge of affection through Sam. 

Sam tightened his grip on Gabe and kissed him gently on the forehead, resulting in a smile from the other boy. It scared him a little how much he'd gotten attached to him in the short amount of time they'd known each other, and how much it was going to hurt when he finally had to go home. Would they see each other anymore? They'd all promised to keep in touch, but promises could be broken, no matter how hard they try to keep them. He wasn't sure he could handle having Gabriel forget about him like that. 

He lay with the other boy for a little longer, until he heard someone coming up to the cabin. In a fit of panic, Sam hurried out of Gabriel's bed and started running for his own. 

"Sam?" Gabriel slurred, sitting up in bed and looking for him. 

The younger boy paused, turning around, and went back for Gabe. "Hey, I'm still here. The guys are coming, so I got up. Go back to sleep." Sam leaned in and kissed Gabriel, easing him back down onto the bed. "I'll be right over here."

"I wish you could stay here," Gabe hummed, pulling away from Sam and pouting up at him from his pillow. "This bed is too lonely without you in it." 

 

Sam snorted and rolled his eyes at his friend, kissing his cheek before hurrying over to his own bunk and laying down, staring at the railing of Chuck's bed above him. He could hear Gabriel settling back in and rolling over right before the guys were in the door, laughing and asking how Gabe was. 

Sam shushed them and pointed over at the other bed, giving them all a look. "He's asleep," he whispered. "He's okay, just really tired. He doesn't want to be alone." He looked up at the others, his eyes tired, and ran a hand back through his hair. "I'm just gonna stay with him today, if that's alright." 

"Yeah, Sam, sure thing. We just wanted to see how he was," Chuck answered, giving him a smile. "And if you're okay. We've hardly seen ya in weeks. It's weird not having you around, man." 

That pulled a smile out of Sam. "I miss you guys too, Chuck. And I'm okay, just... trying to make up for the first part of the summer. Gabe's actually a really cool guy. I feel bad for  being so nasty to him." 

"We told you he was pretty neat." Inias chimed in, grinning at him. "Glad you finally believe us." 

Sam just rolled his eyes at them and let his eyes fall to the boy in the bed once again. "Wish I would'a came around sooner. Summer's half over, and I'm just now getting to know him." Sam felt cheated; he'd wasted so much time hating Gabriel, when he could have been falling for him in every way. For the first time in years, he felt  _ good _ with Gabe there, and now... Now it was almost too late. The summer was half over, and he'd be going home, and probably never to see Gabriel again. "I'm gonna miss him." 

Kevin exchanged a smirk with Chuck, and the shorter boy cleared his throat. "We're gonna go, so he can get some sleep. We'll come back in a little while. They're supposed to be doing a campfire tonight. You guys'll come, right?" 

"I'll see what I can do, man. But yeah, we probably will." Sam replied, already itching for them to leave so he could go back to Gabriel. 

"We'll see ya in a little while, then." Chuck waved, leading the others out the door. 

It wasn't two seconds and Gabriel was sitting up in bed, grinning hugely at Sam with a glint of mischief in his eyes. "You're gonna miss me." 

"No I'm not." 

"Samcake is gonna miss me!" He cackled. 

 

"I was lying, Gabriel," Sam answered, crawling back into his bed with him.

"Does it help if I say I'm gonna miss you, too?" Gabe asked, already wrapping his arms around Sam and laying his head on his shoulder. 

Sam brought Gabriel into his arms and kissed his forehead, thinking. Yes, it did help. It helped a lot, actually. "A little, maybe." 

"You wound my ego, Sammikins." He snorted, closing his eyes and settling in. 

Sam chuckled and brought the thin little sheet up around the two of them and situated himself so he was comfortable. "You wouldn't like me if I didn't." 

******

Gabriel found himself laying beside Sam, wrapped up in his arms, and wondered what the hell he was doing there. This is exactly what he was afraid of happening, and he knew there was no good that could have come from it. So why was he allowing this? Why on earth was he tempting fate by laying in bed next to this wonderful boy? How could he let this happen? 

Of course he cared for Sam a hell of a lot. He made him smile, and laugh, and he got those warm fuzzy things in his stomach whenever Sam looked at him, or he even  _ thought _ about the younger boy. He looked forward to seeing him every morning, and spending time with him was the best part of his day; Sam made him incredibly happy. The thought of leaving him at the end of the summer was enough to make him not want to go home and--- 

Oh god, he was falling for Sammy Winchester, and he knew there was no way in hell he’d be able to let him just  _ leave _ at the end of camp. 

Gabriel tightened his grip on Sam and lay his head on the younger boy's chest as he came to terms with this. What was he going to do if Sam went home and forgot about him at the end of all of this? Would he be able to recover from it? What if he never wanted to see him after this? 

Gabriel's breath hitched in his throat and he closed his eyes, trying not to think about this anymore. Regardless of what happened in a couple weeks, he had Sam  _ now _ , and he was wasting time being upset about it. Gabriel pulled the sheet up over his head, wanting to shut the world out and stay in this moment with Sam forever, where he knew he wanted to be with him. 

*****

"Gabe," 

Gabriel groaned, burrowing himself deeper into his blankets and closer to Sam, not wanting to move even an inch. 

"Gabe, come on, you've gotta get up." Someone was shaking him and murmuring quietly for him to wake up. Gabriel poked the top of his head out of the blankets and peeked up to see Sam laying there beside him, face framed in sunlight and looking so handsome it almost hurt him. The younger boy smiled at him, and Gabriel put on his most pathetic expression and cuddled closer. "Come on, the guys'll be back soon, and we've been here almost all day. It'll be good for you to get out for awhile." He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Gabe's forehead, and pulled the sheets back away from the other boy. 

 

"They can all suck a dick." Gabe pouted, curling up into a ball. "You are far too nice to move, Moose." 

That just made Sam laugh. "If you're always like this when you first wake up, we're gonna have problems when we get home, because my brother'll shoot you dead if he catches us like this."

That made Gabriel stop for a second. When they went home? Did that mean Sam would still want him around after the summer? Did that mean Sam liked him enough that he wanted him to meet his family? Hope leaped into his chest at the idea, and Gabriel had to really fight to keep himself from grinning. "I thought your brother was into some guy back home? Why would he care about you being with one, too?" 

It took Sam a moment to realize what Gabriel was talking about, and quickly backtracked. "No, I don't - Dean's not.. I just mean because he's my older brother and he's protective. But I think my mom'll like you, so Dean can suck it." 

Gabriel snorted, finally unable to hold back a smile, and looked up at Sam. "Samcake, we've only been doing… whatever this is a few hours, and you're already trying to get me home to meet your family! Next thing you know, you're gonna be talking about weddings, and a kids, and growing old together." The look on Sam's face after that nearly broke Gabe's heart. He hadn't meant it to sound as mean as it did; he was just playing with him. "Hey, Sammy, I didn't mean it like that." He insisted, pressing a kiss to Sam's cheek. "I'd be honored to meet your family. I was just playin' with ya, kiddo." 

"No, you're right," Sam nodded, his eyes fixed at a spot on the wall. "That was way too fast." God, it didn't seem like it'd been just a day, but Sam figured that had a lot to do with pining after the older boy half the summer. "Let's just see how we handle the next few weeks,  _ then _ worry about letting you meet my family, okay?" 

Gabriel grinned at that, holding his hand out for Sam to shake. "You've got a deal, Sammich." 

 

_____

Gabriel did not in fact need to get out and be around people. As soon as the rest of the boys wandered back, the only thing he wanted was to curl up in Sam's arms again and hide from the world. He didn't want to deal with responsibilities, or go outside and face Lucifer and the other counselors. Not right now. He hovered close to Sam while the guys tried to convince him to come with them, trying to resist the urge to grab onto the other boy like an anchor. 

Eventually, they got him to agree to go, although he was not in any way happy about it. 

As they were headed out to the campfire, Gabriel let his mind wander about Sam, and how in the hell he'd wormed his way into his heart so  _ fast _ . It didn't seem possible, or even healthy, for that to happen, and a brief wave of concern washed over him at how quickly he'd let Sam in. He knew next to nothing about the younger boy, but already he’d broken down walls not even some of his closest friends had even glimpsed at. 

Goddammit, he was screwed.

****** 

A hand bumping against his brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Sam right beside him. That pulled a smile out of him, and Gabriel took the offered hand, squeezing it between the two of them, needing that bit of support more than he would have liked to admit. When he looked up, Luke was staring directly at them from his spot on a log, and Gabe swallowed. "Sam," he whispered, stopping the taller boy. "I wanna go back, I don't wanna be here." 

"Gabe, hey," Sam stepped in front of Gabriel, taking his other hand and blocking his view of the other counselor. "Don't let Luke ruin the rest of your time at camp. You have me, you have our friends there, you'll be okay. And if he starts shit, then we can go back. But turning around right now, and hiding from him like this is only going to let him win." 

Gabe peeked around Sam, glancing at Luke one more time, and took a deep breath. "Promise? He starts in, we can go?" 

"I promise." He released one of the other boy's hands and held up a pinky. "I pinky promise." 

Smiling, Gabriel poked Sam in the shoulder and stepped around him, heading towards the others. He could do this. Luke wasn't going to ruin his remaining time with Sam, dammit. He took his spot near Chuck and said hi to all the others, relieved when Sam took the spot right next to him. 

"Hey," Chuck started, nudging Gabe in the side, "you okay? Sam said you were having a bad day, but... We're worried about you, man." 

That got another smile out of him, and Gabriel nodded. "I'm fine, Chuck-o. Just a little stressed out is all. Don't worry about me," 

 

"Ain't gonna happen," Chuck replied, "you go down, the rest of us are going with you. You're our friend, man. We care about you." 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, shoving Chuck in the shoulder and chuckling at him. "I'm okay. I had a wonderful moose to keep me company all day. How could I not be?" 

Sam grinned to himself, glad for the dark so nobody could see him. Reaching around in the dark, Sam took the other boy's hand and squeezed it, wishing he could kiss him then. He was glad to have helped him so much that day, and while he didn't want him to go through it anymore, he hoped he'd be able to help him more later on. "Don't let it go to your head." He muttered. 

"Already did," Gabriel muttered back, rubbing his thumb across Sam's hand. He wanted so badly to take Sam back to the cabin and lay with him for the rest of the night, but they couldn't risk it. Too much time alone would raise questions. 

Of course, he figured it wouldn't be too long before the others in the cabin figured it out, but he trusted them to not say anything. They were good guys, and they were all friends. He trusted them. 

"So, we're thinking of doing something different for the end of the year," One of the counselors announced, interrupting Gabriel's thoughts. "We're doing an end-of-the-year concert for everyone. Since ninety percent of us here have dabbled in music of some kind, we thought it might be fun for everybody. Think about it, and in a few days, we'll post a sign-up list."

Gabriel's eyes fell on Chuck, who was listening intently to what the girl was saying. He could tell he was seriously considering this, and Gabe had half a mind to tell the others what he could do and convince them to encourage him to do it. 

"You already know we're gonna mop the floor with everyone!" Luke said cockily. "Especially Gabriel's bunch!" That got him a round of laughs, and Gabriel felt anger rising up in his chest. "Bunch'a nerds, anyways. They're gonna end up going home with more problems than they came with." 

"Gabe, come on." That was Sam, already up and pulling him up with him. "It's time to go back. Don't pay attention to him. Just come on." 

Gabriel just sat there, seething, while Luke spoke. He couldn't believe this was getting to him, that he was letting this bother him again. But he knew it was true; he was letting these kids down, he wasn't doing right by them. He knew it, they knew it, and it was only a matter of time before they were taken away from him. 

His chest felt tight and his breathing became harder, and when he tried to speak, all that came out was a stutter. Gabriel tried to stand, to defend himself and his kids, but his legs shook so badly that he tried to fall over when he did. 

Arms wrapped around his waist, and before he knew what was going on, he was being slung over someone's shoulder, and carried away from the bonfire. 

Gabriel looked up to see a mop of dark hair, and a small wave of relief washed over him when he realized it was Sam saving him from this misery. 

 

**** 

"Gabe, hey, look at me." That was Sam, and Gabriel wanted to, but he couldn't bear to look up at the other boy. "Gabe, talk to me." 

He was convulsing now, and unable to open his mouth to even say anything without whimpering or stuttering so badly it wasn't worth it. Tears filled his eyes, and he wanted so badly to reach out to Sam, to cling to him and apologize, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything except shake and look around. 

"Gabriel, hey, talk to me." Again, Sam's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked at him helplessly, waiting to calm down. 

"C-C-Can't." he finally whimpered, "S-Sam..." 

A dip in the bed beside him, and then arms were around him, holding him, and promising he was okay. He leaned into the embrace, breathing in Sam's smell, and letting it calm him down enough he could talk. It felt so safe being in Sam's arms like that, and Gabriel never wanted that to go away. He clung to the other as tightly as he could, holding him like a lifeline, and tears slipped down his cheeks. 

Gabriel was embarrassed that the others were witnessing this breakdown, that they were seeing him being weak. He didn't like it, especially didn't like it that Sam was seeing it. Embarrassment flooded him, replacing the panic, and soon, he pulled away and curled in on himself, unable to stop crying. 

"I'm sorry," he told them. "I'm sorry I'm letting you guys down, and not being a great counselor. I thought I was stronger than this. I... Thought I could handle it. I can't. I'm so sorry." 

"Gabe, hey," Sam replied, rubbing his back. "You haven't let us down at all. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this has been the best summer we've had in a long time. That's because of you. Luke, he's just an asshole. He's not worth this." He dropped down in front of the other boy, taking his hands in his and trying to get his attention. "Gabriel, I would pick you a thousand times over before Luke. Any of us would. Because you're a good person. You're a way better person than Luke, and we love you." 

"I'm sorry," Gabriel whispered. "I'm so sorry." 

 

Sam looked at the others helplessly, not knowing what to do here, and Chuck stepped forward, putting a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Just sit with him." He said. "He won't listen right now. Just sit with him, and hold onto him if he starts shaking again. Make him feel safe. Just until he calms down, then talk." 

"But he's--" 

"Sam, I know from experience with this. Just make him feel safe right now." 

"Alright." Sam got back up and sat with Gabriel again, wrapping his arm around him and singing to him under his breath.

_                                 Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel  _

_                                Like you're less than, fuckin' perfect  _

_                               Pretty pretty please, if you ever ever feel  _

_                              Like you're nothing, you're fuckin' perfect to me _

  
  


When Gabriel finally stopped crying, he leaned against Sam, unable to move now that he'd exhausted himself. He lay there, looking around, ashamed of himself, and avoiding the others in the room. "I'm so sorry." He finally said again, hating that he did this to them. 

"Gabriel," Sam started, shifting his position a bit, "you've done nothing wrong. You've been a fantastic counselor. You still are. Don't worry so much, alright? Nobody thinks less of you for this. And Luke's an ass. Don't worry about him. He's wrong. You have helped us so much, you don't even realize." 

Gabriel shook his head. "No, you don't get it. I'm... I'm not good. I can't handle this job. I - I shouldn't have done this, I'm not cut out for it, and I'm letting everyone down. I'm so sorry. I -" 

Having heard enough, Sam leaned in and kissed Gabriel to shut him up, not caring who saw them. "Nothing is going to make me regret this summer, Gabe. You're amazing, this has been amazing, and I wouldn't trade you for anything." 

Gabriel closed his eyes and leaned his head against Sam's, tired and wishing he could just disappear. "I'm sorry, Sam." 

"Shh," Sam shushed, cupping his face in his hands. "You don't need to be. Just calm down. Don't worry."

"Gabe, hey man," Chuck started, taking the spot on the other side of Gabriel, "Sam's right. You're being too hard on yourself. You're awesome, man." 

Gabriel nodded, laying down on his bed with his head in Sam's lap, and clung to him. 

"So you guys are... a thing?" Kevin asked, trying not to smile at them. "I called it! Told 'em by the end of the summer, you two'd be a thing." 

"It's true," Inias admitted, "he did." 

 

Sam nodded, running his hand over Gabe's hair and looking down at him sadly. "You guys, you can't say anything. To anybody. If they find out, he could lose his job, or I could be kicked out, or both."

Chuck looked offended. "Who are we gonna tell? Besides that, you're our friends. We care about both of you and... Whatever this is. Your secret's safe with all of us." 

"Thank you," Sam replied, relieved. "I really like him. I don't want him to get fired because of me." 

Kevin chuckled, sitting down on his bed and smirking at them. "We told you you'd like him if you just talked to him! And now look at ya!" 

Sam rolled his eyes at him and turned his attention back to Gabriel, thinking he looked a little calmer now. He hated that Gabriel had to deal with this, especially when he was still dealing with his own things, and decided to talk to him after the others went to bed. They needed to sit down and figure out what to do about Gabe, if he'd be okay or not. 

____

Sam talked to the guys for a little while longer before everyone trickled off to their own beds for the night. He stayed with Gabriel, not wanting to leave him alone, and curled up beside him on the mattress. Feeling himself growing tired, Sam pulled the blanket up over them and closed his eyes, sleep finding him soon afterward. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sam had only gotten a few hours of sleep under his belt when he woke up, and decided to go ahead and get the bathroom cleaned for Gabriel. The other boy was wrapped around him like an octopus, so Sam had to maneuver his way out from under him and back to his own bed, slip the bucket and rags out from under it, and hurried off. 

 

_____

 

Gabriel had woken up when Sam moved and squinted at the other boy in the dark, trying to figure out what he was doing. When he realized that his suspicions were in fact true, he let Sam get a little ways ahead of him before slipping on his shoes and following after him. 

 

______

 

Sam set the flashlight up where he could see inside the far stall, and got started. He was just about to get started on it when the light flipped on and blinded him. 

 

"What the hell are you doing, Sam?" 

 

Standing, Sam turned to the door and sighed. "You're supposed to be asleep." 

 

Gabriel folded his arms, and stepped farther into the room. "No,  _ you're _ supposed to be asleep, and  _ I'm _ supposed to be cleaning up in here. This is my job, Sam. This is what's keeping me from getting fired. If someone catches you in here doing this, we'll both get in trouble for it." 

 

"You shouldn't have to do this, though. We're the ones who ripped the flag." 

 

"But it was my idea, Sam. I'm responsible for this. Now go back to the cabin and let me do this." 

 

Sam shook his head, folding his arms and standing his ground. "I'm not leaving." 

 

"Dammit, Sam." Gabriel sighed, walking over to him and moving him out of the way. "Fine, you can stay, but I'm doing this." 

 

"But--" 

 

"No." Gabriel replied. "Just... Stay and talk to me. If you insist on staying, just keep me company." 

 

Sam thought about it for a moment, and, deciding that was probably the best he was going to get, agreed. He took a seat on one of the sinks and watched Gabriel get to work, still frustrated that he wasn't able to do anything. "How about we just do this?" He suggested. "In the mornings when you have to come out here, let me come with you and keep you company?" 

 

"Maybe," Gabe said. Of course, he would love Sam to spend time with him like that, away from prying eyes, but he didn't want him to give up sleep on his account. It didn't seem right to him. "If you think you can handle it, okay." 

 

"You act like sitting around and talking to you is such a hard thing to do." Sam snorted, grinning at the other boy. 

 

"You make a compelling argument, Samsquatch." Gabriel smirked, turning to look back at the other boy. "You can stay." 

Sam fell silent for a moment after that, trying to think of something to talk about. "So, about yesterday..." 

"What about it?" 

"Nothing, just..." Sam hopped down from his seat, and went to stand against the door to the stall Gabriel was currently cleaning. "You put too much pressure on yourself, Gabe. Don't forget, you're still a kid, too." 

"Sam--" 

"I'm serious," Sam continued, "You're doing fine as a counselor, Gabe. All of us love you, and we're all getting worried about you... Me especially." 

Gabriel set his rag down and turned to the taller boy, sadness in his eyes. "I just... I feel like I'm letting you all down by not being around like I should be. You came here to get help for your problems, and I'm - I feel like I'm just adding to them by not being there." 

Sam shook his head and leaned down, pulling Gabriel in for a soft kiss. "You underestimate yourself and us, Gabriel. We had ways of coping at home, and we have both those and each other here. And it's not like you aren't dealing with things yourself." He shook his head and cupped the other boy's face in his hands, kissing him again. "We're okay. We can handle this. We're all strong, and we're all doing so much better now that we've gotten here. And that's all thanks to you, Gabe." 

The smaller boy didn't say anything in response to that, just wrapped his arms around Sam and leaned his head against his chest. He still felt bad for it all, but it wasn't worth arguing with him about it. 

The two went along in silence for a little while, Sam's head swimming with questions to ask the other boy, and Gabriel trying to figure out why on earth, out of all the boys at camp, Sam picked him even after all of his screw ups thus far. It made no sense to Gabe. Nobody ever wanted him, or had even shown interest in him before Sam came along. He knew he was obnoxious, and all around annoying and a crappy person, and Sam was good and nice and completely  _ innocent _ ... He couldn't make sense of it. 

"So, why haven't I heard you playing guitar yet?" Sam's voice cut into his thoughts. 

"Wha..?" 

"You have a guitar here at camp, Gabe. And we've been... this for almost twenty-four hours now. When am I going to get serenaded and woo'd by you, huh?" 

“In due time, my Sammysaurus Rex. In due time. Just trying to think of a time and a song to do you justice.”

~~~~~~

The days passed by too quickly for Sam. Gabriel had agreed to let him hang out with him while he did his chores, and pretty much whenever he could fit in time with him. 

As it stood, they only had a couple weeks before camp was over, and Sam was dreading it. What would happen after everything returned to normal? Would he still keep the friends he'd made this summer? Would he still have Gabriel? The questions swam in his mind constantly, and he wanted so badly to ask about it, to get assurance that it was just in his head, but he couldn't quite bring himself to actually do it. 

He hoped, for his sake, that it was just paranoia. 

Things with Gabriel had actually been going very well. As their friends promised, they were keeping things under wraps, and they were able to test their relationship out without the eyes of the camp on them constantly. Sam thought that a few of the other campers and some of the staff had their suspicions - Luke included - but so far, nothing had been brought to light about it. 

If that could continue through the remainder of camp, he would be relieved. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of course, in the spirit of how things went for Sam, that wasn't meant to be. 

***** 

Sam was sitting on the floor in the cabin, listening to Gabriel and Chuck taking turns playing the older boy's guitar. Chuck had let them hear a couple songs he'd written over the summer (most of them written about a girl he'd met during camp, one song with minor hints of cannibalism that Sam found a bit concerning, but Chuck was happy with it, and it was catchy enough, so they let it go), and Gabe was playing old country and rock songs none of them really knew. 

"Okay, this next one goes out to my dear Samshine." Gabriel chuckled, whispering to Chuck what he wanted him to play. With an answering grin, Chuck began playing, and Gabe cleared his throat. 

_ Me and you _

_ And you and me _

_ No matter how they toss the dice _

_ It had to be _

_ The only one for me is you _

_ And you for me _

_ So happy together! _

Sam's face turned bright red and he hid his face in his hands, in disbelief that Gabriel was really doing this. 

 

_ I can't see me lovin' nobody but you  _

_ For all my life!  _

_ When you're with me  _

_ Baby the skies will be blue _

_ For all my liiiiiiife! _

"Okay, okay, enough!" Sam cackled, his cheeks still flaming. "You're such a dweeb." 

"Awe, look, guys, I made him blush!" Gabe laughed, not taking his eyes off of Sam. "My Samshine is blushing!" 

Sam just shook his head, trying not to grin at him, and rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Gabe."

Gabriel slid off the bed and ended up on the floor in front of Sam, grinning as he leaned in to kiss him. "I don't have to. You already did with your rosy red cheeks." 

_____ 

After things settled down for the evening, and everyone was either at the campfire, or back in their cabins, Gabriel decided it would be the perfect opportunity to take Sam out. 

He nudged the other boy's side, gesturing for him to follow after him with a huge grin on his face. Looking around to see if everyone else was watching them, he nodded, and quickly followed the other boy away from the campfire, and into the woods. 

"Where're we going?" He whispered, squinting to find Gabriel in the dark. 

"Trust me, Moose," Gabe whispered back, taking Sam's hand and leading him down to the lake. 

Sam could only wonder what Gabriel had in store for them out here, at night, away from everyone else. The only thing he could think of was that they would be going skinny dipping, and while that sounded fun, it also involved him to be  _ naked _ in front of  _ Gabriel _ , and Sam wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. 

"Stay here," Gabriel's voice cut through his thoughts, and Sam watched as the other boy took off down the bank and pushed a canoe out into the water. "C'mon, kiddo!" He whispered, looking back. 

Confused, Sam followed after him, a bit relieved it didn't look like they were going swimming, and piled into the boat without managing to tip it. 

Gabe pushed him out a little farther before climbing in himself and grinning at actually getting away with it. He stayed quiet and paddled them out a ways, his eyes never leaving Sam's face. 

"Now that I have you where you can't escape, I want to talk to you." 

 

"Oh crap. You’re not pregnant, are you?" 

"Sam!” 

“What? It’s my job as a concerned boyfriend to cover all the bases!” The younger boy laughed. “But seriously, what’s on your mind?” 

“This. Us. What - what's going on here." 

This confused Sam even more. "What do you mean, Gabe?" 

"I mean..." He sighed, not wanting to get into this. "Are we going to call it quits when summer ends? Or is this one of those romcom deals where we keep it going forever and end up getting married someday, or what?" Gabriel was blushing now, unable to stop himself from talking. "I don't want this to be over when camp ends, alright? I really like you, Samsquatch, I... I don't want to go back to never knowing you, or having... this. I don't... I don't know." 

Sam let him keep rambling for a minute before finally stepping in and shushing him. "Gabe, I don't want this to end at the end of camp, either. If we can make it work, I really want to keep this going when we go home. I really like you, too. Don't worry so much." 

Now it was Gabriel's turn to be confused. He understood perfectly what there was to love about Sam; he was smart, thoughtful,  _ gorgeous _ , and had the biggest heart Gabe had ever seen. But what on earth could Sam possibly see in him? He was an absolute mess of a person. What could possibly be good about him? Though he didn't voice them, the questions swam around in his head so loud and so fast that it almost made him dizzy. 

"Sam..." Gabriel whispered, just wanting to break the silence. "Are you sure?" 

  
  


"Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't be sitting here right now if I weren't." 

  
  


"Okay," Gabe replied, still unsure. 

Sam knew the best thing to convince Gabriel would be time, so instead of trying to further his point, he just leaned in, kissing the other boy deeply. 

Lights, aimed right on them, that was the first thing Sam was aware of. He squinted, shielding his eyes and trying to make sense of what was happening.

"What's going on out there?" A voice called. "Get back over here!" 

 

Gabriel's blood ran cold. He knew the voice belonged to Bobby, and he knew what it meant: he was getting fired. He wasn't going to see Sam again because he couldn't keep his feelings to himself. Gabe spared one more look over at the younger boy and, knowing it wouldn't make a difference at this point anyways, leaned in and kissed him for the very possible last time. 

_______

Gabriel and Sam were marched into Bobby's office, both of them terrified about what could very possibly happen to them now. Gabriel could lose his job, Sam could be sent home, or both. It could have gone on Gabriel's record, 

"What in the hell were you two doing out there?" Bobby demanded, his eyes hard as he stared at the two of them. "Do you know how much trouble you can get in for this? Do  _ you _ , Gabriel?" 

"It was my fault, sir." Sam spoke up, thinking that maybe if he took the rap for it, Gabe might come out okay. "I got Gabe mixed up in all of this, it's my fault, I--" 

Bobby shook his head, cutting him off. "I'm not talking to you right now, Sam. You go wait outside, I need to speak with Gabriel alone for a moment." 

Sam shared one more look at Gabriel, squeezed his hand, and talked out. 

Bobby was quiet for a moment, staring at his counselor and shaking his head. "Start at the beginning." 

"Mr. Singer, I--" 

"I don't wanna hear it, boy, just tell me why in the hell I found you kissing a camper." 

Gabriel took a breath, trying to gather his thoughts enough that he could explain it without sounding creepy. "Sam and I bonded pretty quick over the summer, and one thing led to another, and we both had feelings for each other..." Gabe drug a hand through his hair, embarrassed with himself for his lack of self control with Sam, and knew there was no getting out of this one. He was done.  _ They _ were done. "Sam and I decided to give it a try, and it worked. Tonight, I just... wanted us to have a nice time. I didn't think..." He looked up at Bobby guiltily, hating that it was going to come to this. "Mr. Singer, I am so sorry. I never in a million years intended for this to happen. I know there's going to be repercussions for it, and all I ask is that you don't take it out on Sam. It was my fault. All of this has been my fault. Do what you have to do to me, just don't... don't punish Sam." 

"Alright, then, kid." 

Gabriel knew he should have felt regretful for what had happened with Sam this year, but he couldn’t bring himself to. If he had it to do all over again, he would have done it the exact same way. Even if it ended like this every single time. Still, he said, “I’m sorry, sir.” 

 

"You know what I'm gonna have to do, don't you?" Bobby asked, a regretful look in his eyes. "I can't let this slide." 

Gabriel closed his eyes, nodding, and knowing what was coming next. "Mr. Singer, I have a question." 

"Shoot." 

"Not to sound bad, sir, but... how - how did you find out about Sam and me?" 

Bobby hesitated for a moment, thinking about how to answer him, but figured it would be best to just be blunt. "Luke told me he had some suspicions about the two of you, and that I should look into what was going on." 

Gabriel felt the air be pulled out of his lungs at that knowledge and he nodded again, swallowing and trying to keep a level head. "Okay." He replied, his voice tight. 

Bobby looked at him sadly, and the older man thought for a moment. "You know what has to happen now, right? I'm gonna have to let you go." 

Gabriel nodded again, and tears filled his eyes. He hated that he was going to lose this job. He loved this job, he loved the guys, and he loved the  _ camp _ . He couldn't believe it was all being taken away from him like it was. "Yes, sir." 

Bobby walked around from behind his desk and clapped Gabriel on the shoulder. "Now son, just because you have to leave now, it doesn't mean anything for the future. If you still think you wanna come back next year, do it. And maybe you can convince Sam to come with you - as a counselor, not a camper." 

"Really?" Gabe asked, disbelief bright in his eyes. "You'd really let me come back?" 

"You're one of the best counselors we have at this damn camp, kid. I hate having to lose you like this. But I can't let it slide. I made that mistake with Luke." He shook his head, glaring at the window. "Should have never let him come back. Son of a bitch, anyways." 

Gabriel felt a bit better knowing Bobby felt that way about Luke as well, and turned to smile at the older man. "Mr. Singer, can you promise me something? Don't let Luke be the one who takes over for me. I don't want any of the guys anywhere near him." 

"I'll do my best, kid." 

 

______

After Gabriel was released, Bobby called Sam into his office. As he was walking by, Gabe took the other boy's hand and squeezed it encouragingly, giving him a smile. "I'll wait for you, Sammy." He whispered, watching him walk away. 

As Sam was talking with Bobby, Gabriel had time to sit down and think about the weight of his actions this summer. He had been forced out of a job he loved for a boy; something he said he would never do, because that was only things dumbasses in movies did to seem romantic. Well, he was certainly a dumbass, but he didn't see any cameras around so he didn't think this was a movie. The worst part of it was, he didn't regret a single thing about it. If given the chance, he would do everything exactly the same, because this all brought him to Sam. He wouldn't trade the feeling of loving him, of touching him, of  _ kissing _ him for anything in the world. Not even his job back. 

Okay, that sounded cheesy, he knew, but it was the truth. 

He didn't know what he was going to tell his parents when they had to come pick him up tomorrow; they knew he was bisexual and wouldn't be upset with him for meeting Sam, but he was kind of bashful about them finding out about him like that. They would never let him live that down. 

With a sigh, Gabriel let his head fall back against the wall, and decided to call his mother and let her know what happened while he waited for Sam to finish up. Thankfully, she was still awake, and she agreed to come get him, so long as she got to meet this Sam kid. Gabriel smiled, and told her he'd try to arrange it. 

Sam came back after another ten minutes, a sad look on his face, and pulled Gabriel into a tight hug. "Do you have to leave?" He asked sadly, burying his face in the shorter boy's hair. 

"I'm sorry, Sam," Gabriel whispered, leaning against his chest. "It was either that, or you'd have to go too, and I didn't want that. You need to be here, you... you deserve to get help." He looked up at him with tears swimming in his eyes, and just clung to him. "I'm sorry it has to be like this." 

"Let's go back to the cabin, alright?" Sam whispered, kissing the top of Gabriel's head. "We'll talk there. We need to tell the guys anyways." 

"Okay." Gabe wrapped his arm around Sam as they walked out of the main office and back towards their own cabin. 

_____

The guys weren't back yet when they got there, and Sam decided this was the perfect time to say goodbye privately. 

He didn't think he would be comfortable with having sex that night, especially with the threat of any of the guys coming back at any time. If they were going that route, he would have liked their first time to be on a happier occasion. Instead, he pulled Gabriel over to his bed, leaned back against the wall, and held him. 

"I don't want you to go," Sam whispered, pressing another kiss to the top of his head. "Is there anything we can do about it?" 

Gabriel looked back at him sadly, shaking his head and leaning up for a real kiss. "Not now, kiddo. Even if you could, I wouldn't let you. I don't want to fuck up you being here because of me." 

"I don't want to be here without you." 

Gabriel sighed, frustrated that they were going to be doing  _ this _ tonight. "Well, Sam, you're gonna have to be. But it's just a couple more weeks. Then you're home. And I  _ promise _ if you still want this when you're back, I'll come out and see you. Every weekend if that's what you want. Because... Dammit, I meant what I said tonight. I don't want this to just be a summer fling, Sammy." 

Sam just pulled him closer, pressing another kiss to his cheek, and closed his eyes. "If you can afford it, you are more than welcome to come out and see me as much as you want. Because I also meant what I said earlier. I want to give this a shot, Gabe.”

"Good," Gabriel whispered, leaning back against the other boy and closing his eyes. He would be content just to stay with Sam like this for the rest of the night, to never let tomorrow come and ruin everything. "My mom is coming to get me in the morning. She wants to meet you, if you want to come see her." 

Sam smiled at that. "I don't see why not. But... let's not think about tomorrow right now, okay? Let's just focus on us right now." 

Gabriel nodded again, and lay down on Sam's bed, snuggling up to him, and closed his eyes. "Just hold me, Samshine." 

____

Gabriel had fallen asleep in Sam's arms pretty soon after all of that, and Sam was waiting up for the other guys to get back so he could tell them what happened. 

Needless to say, they were shocked, and a somber mood fell over all of them when they realized this would most likely be their last night together as a group. No other counselor would be able to take all of them in together. They would most likely be split up. 

"Just as long as we're not stuck with that Luke asshole." Kevin muttered, crawling into bed. "That guy gives me the absolute creeps." 

"Seriously." Chuck agreed, shuddering. "Why can't he be the one to get fired? Gabe doesn't deserve it. He didn't do anything wrong. Neither of you did." 

"Yeah we did, guys. I mean, falling in love with him wasn't wrong, I will never regret that. But... we shouldn't have started dating until after camp. I never wanted him to get fired. I... hope he can forgive me for that." Sam looked up at the rest of the guys, who were all grinning smugly at him. "What?" he asked, feeling his cheeks getting warm. 

 

"You just admitted you loved him!" Kevin replied, half laughing at Sam. "I can't believe you actually admitted it! You're gonna have to tell him!" 

Sam couldn't believe he'd just said that out loud, but it was true, and it was something he wasn't about to take back. "I'll tell him tomorrow morning. Give him a good send off." He smiled, glancing back down at Gabriel. He was going to miss the other boy so much, but knowing he would see him after camp helped. 

All of the guys planned on going with them tomorrow morning to say goodbye to Gabe, and Sam was glad for the support. 


	9. Chapter 9

The morning came around much too early for all of them. Gabriel was the first one up, then Sam, and together, the two of them woke the rest of the boys up, and the six of them made their way out to the entrance with Gabriel's stuff. 

 

"Mom said she'd be here at seven. And it's..." Gabe glanced down at his watch as it hit 7:00 on the dot. "Oh." Sure enough, a moment or two later, Gabriel's mother pulled up in a beat up station wagon, a sad look on her face. Gabriel turned back to the rest of the guys, waiting for any of them to say something. 

 

"Well, Gabriel, it looks like you got yourself some friends this summer." His mother remarked happily as she stepped out of the car. She was small, Sam noticed, with light, curly hair, and Gabriel's same eyes, he smiled at her, giving a small little wave, and waited for Gabriel to introduce them. 

 

Blushing, the smaller boy nodded. "This is Inias, Harry, Chuck, Kevin," he pointed to all of them in turn, then paused when he got to Sam. He met the other boy's eyes, and his breath caught in his throat, he couldn't do it. He couldn't say his name for the last time.

 

"By process of elimination, I'm gonna take a guess and say you're Sam?" Mrs. Milton asked, holding out her hand for him to shake. 

 

Nodding, Sam took her hand and smiled shyly at her. "Yes, ma'am."

 

She gave him a once over, a teasing smile lighting up her face, and turned to Gabriel. "Well, honey, now I understand why you did what you did this summer! You didn't tell me he was that cute!" 

"Okay, Mom, that's it we gotta go now." Gabe blushed, pushing his mother back towards the car. 

"Now, Gabriel, you need to introduce me to your boyfriend! If he's going to be coming around the house after camp, I want to know him!" 

"You can find out later, Mother, not right now! We have to get on the road!" 

All of the boys, Sam included, busted up laughing at Mrs. Milton and Gabriel. The younger Winchester shot Gabriel a sad smile, knowing it was time to say goodbye, and sighed. He didn't want Gabriel to go, he didn't want to stay at camp without him. His one little bright spot was being ripped away because of their dumb mistake. He couldn't lose him. He couldn't say goodbye like this... 

As Gabriel's mother got back into the car, Sam hurried forward and grabbed Gabriel and pulled him in for one last kiss, not caring who could see them. His hands cupped the smaller boy's face, and Gabriel's fingers tangled in his hair, tugging and grabbing onto it for dear life. 

When they finally broke apart, Sam bumped his forehead to Gabriel's, his hands still on his face, and closed his eyes. "I don't want you to go." He whispered. 

"I'll write you. I'll write you as soon as I get home. I don't want to go either." Gabriel wrapped his arms around Sam's neck and clung to the other boy, not wanting to leave him. "I'll see you when camp is over, okay? I promise, I'll come see you." 

"I'm holding you to that." Sam took a breath and, with one last kiss, whispered those three little words into his boyfriend’s ear. “I love you, Gabe.” 

Gabriel didn’t have much time to process what Sam just said; he wasn’t sure he heard him right, first of all, and second…  _ What?  _ He blinked, stammering around for a moment and trying to make his tongue work, when his mother honked the horn and he had to leave.  

Sam watched as Gabe got into the car, and drive away without saying it back. He wasn’t sorry that he said it, but it stung that it went the way it had. Sadly, when the station wagon was out of sight, Sam turned back to the others and headed back inside the grounds. 

____ 

The rest of the morning was full of nervous energy as the five of them packed their things up from Cabin 13 and then headed to the Mess Hall for breakfast. 

Bobby addressed the whole room, told a very watered down version of what happened to all of the camp, and then announced where all of them would be ending up. 

"Alright, Inias, you'll be sent to cabin eight, your counselor will be Naomi. Harry, you'll be sent to cabin three, your counselor will be Ed. Chuck, you're going to three, your counselor will be Becky, Kevin, you're with Gad in cabin ten. Which leaves... Sam." 

The boy gulped, looking around the room at his retreating friends. His palms were sweaty, and his mouth felt dry. The only counselor he wanted to be paired with was Gabriel, the only one he  _ wanted _ was Gabriel. 

"Sam, you're gonna be with Luke. Cabin nine." Bobby said, an almost regretful tone to his voice. 

Sam's stomach dropped to the floor and he glanced over at his new counselor, his skin crawling at the smug look on his face. It made Sam want to punch him, or strangle him, or maybe both. He grabbed his bag and went to sit with his new group, taking the seat farthest from Luke, and pulled out a book. He didn't want anything to do with any of his cabin-mates; he didn't want to make friends, he just wanted to get through the rest of camp alive. 

And with the way Luke was staring at him, like he was a piece of meat, he wondered if it were actually something to be worried about. 

_________ 

"It's so nice to have you with us, Sam." Luke purred, "I was so sorry to hear about your last counselor. It's such a pity what happened to Gabriel; he has so many demons in him, I'm sorry you got wrapped up in all of it, Sammy." 

Sam's stomach rolled when Luke spoke his name, and his lip curled up when he spoke of Gabriel in the way he did. Gabriel didn't have demons. He had one, and its name was Luke. He said nothing, just let him continue ranting on about his boyfriend and tried to block it out. Sam wished Gabriel were here with him, he wasn't sure if he could handle the remainder of camp, and Luke, without him. 

 

"Honestly, I'm glad it didn't get much worse than it was. What would have happened if he forced himself on you?" Luke shook his head, his eyes full of false sympathy, and /tsked/ Gabriel. "At least you don't have to worry about it now. You're safe." 

_ Yeah, I bet I am. _ Sam thought, unable to stop himself from shuddering. If he were being honest, he felt less safe with Luke than he did at home, battling this on his own. "I'm gonna go check and see if there's any mail for me." Sam announced, getting up from his spot at their table and hurrying away. He kept checking behind him after he left, feeling someone watching him the whole way to their mail station. 

In fact, there were a few letters waiting on him. All from his mother, all dated the week before. He felt horrible for having not checked sooner, but time had gotten away from him. He peeked out the window, and saw a couple kids from Luke's cabin coming his way, and ducked until they went by. 

If they were coming, Luke wouldn't be far behind. Sam grabbed his letters and took off across camp, hoping he ran into one of his friends and could hide for a bit. 

Luck was on his side, and he, quite literally, bumped into Chuck and explained the severity of his situation. Chuck, thankfully, hurried him off to his own cabin so Sam could have some privacy to read his letters in peace. 

"I can't believe they stuck you with that creep, man." Chuck said, peeking out his own window. "If Gabriel knew, he'd have a fit." 

"Yeah, I know," Sam replied, slicing the first open. "Which is exactly why nobody is gonna say anything to him, you hear me?" He glanced up at the younger boy. "I'm serious, Chuck, not a word. He has enough to worry about right now." 

"But Sam, he's your boyfriend." 

"I don't care." 

"You know he'd want to know." 

Sam sighed, turning his attention to his mother's letter. Nothing particularly interesting. just a quick recount of her week, how things were going at home, and a quick, "Jessica wanted me to tell you hi." He smiled at that, and the thought of going back home so he could see his friend again made him happy. He knew he should write her, but at this point, it would be easier just to tell her everything when he got home.

The next letter was very much the same, with another "Jess says hi, you should write her." tacked onto the end. Okay, so, maybe he would send her a letter, if it eased his mother's mind. 

The last one, though, made him stop and reread it a couple times. 

_ Sammy,  _

_ We talked to Dad this evening. He asked about you, and was upset to hear things have gotten that bad. When he gets home, he wants to see you and Dean. He said to tell you he loves you, and he misses you, and he'll be expecting a full report on this camp next time he can talk.  _

_ I miss you, too. Home is a lot quieter without you here. I miss having my buddy to talk to in the afternoons when Dean's at work. I hope you're doing okay, and you never did tell me about this Gabriel kid. What's going on with that? Have you two made peace? Or is he still annoying you to no end?  _

_ Dean and Cas have officially come out as a couple, I thought you should know. I found them curled up with each other asleep on the couch, watching a movie. When I woke Cas up to ask if I should tell his dad he was spending the night, he asked if it would be okay to date Dean. Of course I said yes, and the two of them went up to bed. It was sweet.  _

_ Jessica keeps asking about you, how you're doing, you should really write her a letter, Sam. I don't know what to tell her. It will ease her mind a little to hear from you.  _

_ Write me back soon, okay?  _

_ Love,  _

_ Mom. _

 

Sam grinned at the news and turned to Chuck, his eyes lighter than they'd been all morning. "Remember my brother and his friend I was telling you guys about?" 

"The one he was totally in love with? Yeah." 

"According to Mom, they finally got together. That's gonna be a relief to go home to, let me tell you. I got sick of the pinning from Dean." 

Chuck laughed along with him. "Are you gonna write her back?" 

Sam nodded. "Do you mind if I hang out here a little longer and do that?" 

The other boy shook his head. "Nah, that's fine. You mind if I play for a bit?" He said, gesturing to his guitar. "Since we found out about Gabe, my anxiety has been up. Thought getting back to it might help some." 

Sam shook his head, grabbing some of Chuck's paper, and got started. "No, go ahead. It might help, actually." 

"Cool." 

_ Mom,  _

_ I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write back, a lot has been happening.  _

_ I'm glad you asked about Gabriel, because I actually have some news about that...  _

_ He and I in fact did make peace since I last talked to you, and, well... Dean's not the only one with a new boyfriend this summer. I think you'll really like him. He's funny, and he's really excited to meet you when we all get home.  _

_ I'm sorry I missed Dad, if you talk to him again before I get home, tell him I love him too, and I'll be sure to tell him about camp as soon as I can.  _

_ I've made a lot of friends this summer, I'm actually sitting with one of them right now. Do you remember me telling you about Chuck? Him. He's really cool; he plays guitar - so does Gabe - and that's what he's doing in the background right now. _

_ I'm also sorry that I missed Dean finally admitting his feelings for Cas. It's about time he did. Be sure to tell him I said that, too. I'm happy that he's got Cas with him; they're good for each other.  _

_ And I promise, I will write Jess as soon as I close out this letter, so you can stop hinting to me about it. I'm sorry I haven't written to her sooner.  _

_ I miss you, too. Just a couple more weeks, and then I'll be home. I even miss Dean, if you can believe it. I can't wait to be home and see you guys again. I miss home.  _

_ I love you, and I promise I'll write you again sooner.  _

_ Love,  _

_ Sam. _

 

Chuck was too into his guitar to notice what was going on, so Sam grabbed two more pieces of paper, and wrote one letter to Jessica, and one to Gabriel, in which he explained basically what had happened with the cabin changes, and made him promise not to freak out over the Luke thing. He assured him that he could handle it, and it was only for a couple weeks. Sam also promised that he would try to see him as soon as camp was over. 

When he was finished, he knew he probably should go ahead and take off, but he really didn't want to leave. He'd gotten too used to Chuck's company this summer, and to think he wouldn't be spending much time with him anymore after camp really bothered him. "You know, Chuck, if it's cool with you, you're more than welcome to come see me after camp. And I'll try to get out to see you during breaks and stuff. Also, you're welcome to add me on Skype, and wherever else I am." 

Chuck hit a sour note on his song and looked up in shock, completely in disbelief that Sam had just said that. He had honestly expected things to go back to normal for him once camp was over, and for everyone to forget about him. He couldn't believe that Sam actually acted like he wanted to keep being his friend. "Y - You don't... I - I mean you don't h - have to feel obligated to be m - my friend, Sam... I unders-stand..." 

"Who said anything about being obligated?" Sam asked, glancing at his friend in confusion. "Like it or not, Chuck, you're my friend, and I would like to remain your friend after camp." 

Chuck just nodded, staring back down at his guitar with a smile on his face. It was strange to hear that, but it made him happy to know Sam wasn't sick of him yet. "Okay, I will. Thank you, Sam." 

Sam returned his friend's smile and got to his feet. "I suppose I ought to get going, I need to mail these out. Thanks for letting me hide here for awhile." 

"Anytime," Chuck hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something else but not knowing what, before putting down his guitar and following Sam out the door. "You don't have to go back to your group yet if you don't want. I don't plan on doing much this afternoon, and there's no point in making you suffer if you don't wanna go. Just hang out with me." 

"Thanks, man." 

Chuck followed Sam out to mail his letters, and the two of them sneaked back to Chuck's cabin before anybody could see them. He listened to Chuck play for a little while, then about some short stories he planned on writing when he got home, and offered suggestions on those. Sam made him promise that he would get to hear all of it when they were finished - music included. 

_______

Sam lay awake that night, unable to sleep knowing Luke was so close by, watching him, waiting for the right moment to strike...

 

He didn't feel right without his friends, without Gabriel laying next to him, and he didn't attempt to fight it. Carefully, he leaned over, grabbing a piece of paper out of his bag, and, by the light of the moon, wrote Gabriel a letter. 

_ Gabe,  _

_ I can't sleep tonight. I keep feeling like Luke is watching me, waiting to do something... It feels wrong without you here. I don't like it. I don't like being separated from the guys, and I have no idea how I'm gonna make it through the rest of camp this way. Part of me is tempted to go home, but I don't want to leave.  _

_ I can't wait to see you again, Gabe. I can't wait to be away from Luke. I'm so sorry I got you fired. _

Sam signed it, sealed it, and put it under his pillow for the time being. He didn't think sneaking out would be a good idea, especially with Luke there. 

He lay there for what felt like hours, trying to force himself to fall asleep, but he couldn't. He couldn't let his guard down now; not in this cabin, with a counselor who made his skin crawl, and bunk-mates who acted like they wanted to beat him or string him up for intruding on all of them. 

Sam knew he needed to rest, but he couldn't do it there. He couldn't go busting in with Chuck and the others, either. Sighing, the boy grabbed his things, slung his bag up over his shoulder, and quietly exited the cabin. He thought he might try sleeping outside somewhere, despite the mosquitoes, if it meant some piece of mind. So, he found a shaded spot under a tree down by the water, threw his bag down, and curled up next to it. 

_______

"What happened to you last night, Sammy?" Luke asked, his sugary sweet sympathy made Sam sick to his stomach. He ignored him, walked right passed, and sat down on his bed. "What happened?" He repeated. 

Sam, knowing he was going to have to answer, shook his head and shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep. Thought a walk might wear me out." 

"Did you have to take all your stuff with you?" 

 

 

Sam cleared his throat and remained silent. He changed from his loafers to his tennis shoes, keeping his eyes on the floor, and tried to make the stop at the cabin as brief as possible. The letter to Gabriel was stuffed in the waistband of his pants, hidden from everyone, and the paper crinkled softly with every move. He planned on taking it over as soon as he finished up. 

__

Sam stood, keeping his eyes fixed on the door, and started forward. 

__

"Hey," Luke grabbed his wrist, squeezing it to the point it hurt, and made Sam turn. "I asked you a question. It would be in your best interest to answer me." He glared at him, blue eyes sharp, cold, piercing Sam and making him uncomfortable. 

__

"No," Sam replied, clipped and harsh. "But I didn't feel safe leaving it here, for you and everyone else to snoop through, so I took it with me." He glared right back at Luke, wrenching his hand free and hurrying out the door. 

__

_____

__

When he was out of sight of the cabin, Sam rubbed at his wrist, wincing in pain when he touched it too hard. He wondered briefly if it would leave a bruise or not, but decided he didn't care too much. He hurried off to mail his letter, hoping that it for there before too long, and hoped Gabriel would send him one back. He didn't know if he could make it without some kind of contact with him. 

__

He spent the rest of the day out, hanging with his friends, and avoiding going back for as long as possible. He knew when he did, he was going to be in for it, and he wanted to stave off the inevitable for as long as he could. 

__

********

The final two weeks of camp were insanely difficult to handle. Every day, Luke made Sam feel more and more uncomfortable, and it put him even more on edge. He'd finally stopped sleeping at night, and taken to hiding in one of his friends' cabins in the mornings and sleeping for a couple hours. Thankfully, they were all more than happy to put him up for a bit. 

__

Gabriel had indeed gotten back with him, and the two had been sending letters back and forth like crazy. It was helping Sam deal with all the shit he had to put up with, and he told Gabriel that through every letter. The other boy had allegedly already sent Sam and all the other boys friend requests on both Facebook and Skype, and Sam had made sure his mom accepted it for him. 

__

According to both his mother and Gabriel both,  _ they _ had become friends and been talking. Mary approved, and Gabe agreed with Sam; he did like Mary. 

 

Luke had backed off since the day Sam confronted him, but he still felt his eyes on him, watching him, waiting. He knew it was only a matter of time before something happened. Gabriel was livid when he found out where Sam had ended up, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Everyone who had taken the kids in volunteered, and it turns out, nobody wants to take in the kid who caused such a scandal at camp. Luke was the only one, and Bobby  _ had _ to make him go, like it or not. Sam was lucky that Gabriel at least understood that. 

_____

The last three days at camp were the worst. 

Sam had come back to the cabin after having taken a nap at Kevin's, and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see anybody inside. He hurried up the steps and inside, stopping just inside the door when he saw it. 

All of his things were scattered across the floor and his bed, all of the letters from Gabriel and his mother were strewn everywhere, opened, read, and messed up completely. His clothes were thrown all over the place, his personal things discarded like trash and broken. His breath caught in his throat and he swallowed, knowing exactly who had been messing with his stuff. Sam took a step forward, stopping to pick up pieces of paper here and there and putting them back with the correct letters. 

He heard the door close behind him, and Sam turned, finding Luke standing in front of it and /tsking/ at him. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to make such a mess?" 

Sam's heart lept into his throat and he knew he was in for it now. He stayed silent, not wanting to dignify Luke with any kind of response, and returned to picking up his things. 

"You know," Luke continued, "you're even less friendly than Gabriel, Sammy. You ignore me, and your bunk-mates, you hardly ever interact with them. At least Gabe had the courtesy to /act/ like he liked us... You... you just keep to yourself." He shook his head, that feigned sympathy coming out in full force. 

"Well, when you go out of your way to make me feel welcome, then maybe I will." Sam snapped, picking up the last ew pieces of paper. When he stood upright again, Luke was right in front of him, eyes cold, and he pushed Sam back against the nearest wall. His hands were on his shoulders, pinning him there, and he leaned in, face inches away from Sam's, and the young boy braced himself for what might possibly happen now. 

"I'd watch yourself if I were you, Winchester." He whispered, his voice hard as steel. "Your little  _ boyfriend _ isn't here to save you if you speak to me like that again." He removed one hand, brushing it gently, lovingly, across Sam's face. "There's still three days left. That's plenty of time to make sure you learn how to behave." Luke spared one more look at him before pulling all the way back and stalking out of the cabin. 

Sam didn't move, barely dared to breathe until he was completely sure Luke was out of sight. He swallowed, and he knew that was the last straw. He couldn't stay here anymore. He couldn't deal with Luke anymore. Quickly, he tossed everything into his duffle and sprinted across the grounds until he reached Chuck's cabin and frantically knocked on the door. 

 

"Chuck!" He called. "Chuck, it's me. Let me in, man, something happened. Chuck, please!" Sam kept throwing looks over his shoulder, feeling watched, and nearly smacked his friend right in the face when he finally opened the door. "Chuck," Sam breathed, pushing his way inside. "You gotta see if I can stay here. Or with someone else. I - I can't go back. I can't." 

"Whoa, whoa. You look like you just saw a ghost, Sam. Chill out for a sec." Chuck guided Sam to the nearest bed, making him sit for a minute and calm down before asking what happened. Sam took a breath, spared one more look out over the grounds, and then told his friend what happened. 

_____

"How on earth can he get away with that?!" Chuck shouted, anger rising in his chest. "He needs to be fired, he needs to be in  _ jail! _ . Just... Fuck, man." He shook his head, taking a seat on the bed opposite Sam, his mind going a mile a minute with ideas on how to get him out of there. "Becky's actually pretty cool, she'll let you stay. I'll go talk to her soon. Just... Jeez." 

"Thanks, Chuck." Sam replied, relieved that he'd be away from Luke. "I owe you one, buddy." 

Chuck smiled a little at that and shrugged Sam off. "Don't worry about it. You're already my friend. That's enough." He started for the door, but turned back at the last second. He didn't feel right leaving Sam alone after all that had happened, and he wondered what might happen if Luke happened to find him there. He didn't think it was too far-fetched of an idea that he might come there first. "Come on, you're sticking with me today." 

Sam hopped up and went with him willingly, not seeing the appeal of sticking around by himself when he didn't have to. "Thank you." He said again, more grateful to his friend than he could ever say.

"What do you say to eating lunch with the guys again today?" He asked. Sam had mostly stuck to himself for lunch since he got moved, nothing against his friends, but he felt so uncomfortable with Luke, that he couldn't bring himself to wait on them. 

"Sounds wonderful." Sam grinned, clapping his friend on the back. 

_____

Becky indeed agreed to let Sam bunk with her guys until the end of camp, since they only had a few more days, as long as Sam promised to tell Bobby about what had happened. Sam agreed, and that was the boys' next stop of the day.

 

Bobby shook his head after Sam had finished his story, looking at him with regret. "I'm sorry, son. I didn't want to stick you there, but I didn't have any other choice. I... If I would have known..." 

Sam shook his head, a bit uncomfortable after talking about it again, and that the energy in the room had gotten so tense so fast. "It's not your fault, sir. None of us thought that would happen." He cleared his throat, staring at his hands. 

"I'll arrange for you to stay somewhere else." he said. 

Chuck cut him off. "No need, Mr. Singer. Already talked to my counselor. Sam's welcome to stay there. Got it all worked out this morning." 

Bobby just nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I never should have let him come back," he muttered. "I should have listened to Gabriel in the first place." 

Sam felt a pang in his heart when Bobby mentioned his boyfriend, bitterly thinking to himself that yes, he should have listened, and he shouldn't have fired him in the first place.  _ But he fired him because of you _ , his mind whispered to him.  _ Gabriel lost his job because of you. That's hardly Luke's fault. _ He swallowed, not wanting to admit to himself that it was true. 

"Well, now you know not to let him come back." Chuck's voice cut through Sam's thoughts and looked up, glancing at the clock. "S - Sir, I hate to do this, but we're starving, and want to get to lunch." 

They said their goodbyes, and the two of them made their way over to the mess hall.

Sam followed Chuck inside, and immediately felt his blood go cold when he saw Luke sitting at their table, looking at him expectantly. 

He hadn't had much problems with anxiety in the past, but an attack was known to spring up now and then. Sam's whole body started shaking, and he was frozen in place. His breath came out in short gasps, and his heart pounded against his ribcage. Everything in him screamed to run, leave the mess hall and get as far away as possible, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. 

When Chuck realized Sam wasn't following him anymore, he turned around, his face paling when he saw how upset Sam was, and hurried back to his side. "Hey, Sam, it's alright. Let's go sit down, alright, buddy?" He guided Sam over to the table with their friends, and took the seat right beside him, his hand on Sam's back and rubbing it reassuringly. Sam was pretty much convulsing now, and almost flipped his tray off the table. More than ever, he wished Gabriel was with him, holding him, touching him, kissing him, something to ground him to the present, and promise things would be okay. "It's alright, Sam." 

It was several long, scary moments before Sam finally came out of his attack, and he slumped his shoulders in defeat, not really having the energy to do much of anything else. 

"Sammy, are you okay?" 

Ice shot through Sam's blood when he heard the voice, knowing who it was without having to turn around. He started shaking again, and let out the smallest of whimpers, not knowing what to do. 

"Alright, that's it." That was Chuck. He got up from his chair and turned to face Luke, his face twisted up in anger. "You've been terrorizing my friend enough. He's not your responsibility, so why don't you just leave him alone? He's had enough.  _ I've _ had enough." 

"I was only asking--" 

Chuck had had enough. In a flash of white hot rage, he leaned up on his tiptoes, reared his fist back, and lunged it at Luke's face with every bit of strength he had in him. Luke took a step back, his hand on his jaw, and turned those ice cold eyes on him. 

"I said, he's had enough." Chuck said fearlessly. "Now I'm going to ask you to leave before that happens again." Luke shot him one more look, then walked away. 

Chuck's eyes went insanely wide and he leaned against the table, shock pouring out of every inch of him at what he just did. "Holy shit." he whispered, finally sitting down. "I - I - I just p - punched him!" He laughed breathlessly. "I just did that!" The biggest smile Sam had ever seen lit up Chuck's face, and he couldn't help but smile, too. “That was  _ awesome! _ ”

"Thank you," Sam mumbled once he'd started calming down some. It meant a lot to him that Chuck had his back like he did. That /all/ of them did. He had needed them this summer, and especially now, with everything going on. He managed a smile at their group, glad for their support, and managed to start picking at his food. 

***********

The day before they were supposed to leave, camp was caught up in a whirlwind of excitement. Early in the morning, the cops descended upon the place, arrested Luke, and every one of them spent the day being interviewed by the police about things that had happened to them, or had heard about happening, or anything that could help keep Luke behind bars as long as possible. 

The air was tense through the rest of the day. Everyone was nervous, uncomfortable, and ready for the whole ordeal to be behind them, so Bobby decided they needed a distraction. 

At lunch, Bobby addressed all remaining camp and staff, and informed them there would be an end of the year bonfire later on, and they were all encouraged to go. 

******

They gathered around the fire pit at dusk, waiting for someone to actually start it. Sam took the seat beside Chuck, and their friends crowded in protectively on either side. Bobby came around and lit the fire, then took a seat opposite them. 

Slowly, campers and staff trickled in, taking their seats, and started talking amongst themselves. Sam's group didn't say much, just sat there in contented silence with each other, relieved they were all okay and had made it out of the summer with each other. 

Sam looked around at the faces next to him, a smile tugging at his lips knowing that he had these guys as friends now, and would even after they left. He didn't know if he would have made it through this without them, and he was overcome with a sense of gratefulness for these four guys, along with Gabriel, for everything they had done for him, and how much they meant to him. He felt safe in their company, happy, and that was a relief to him. 

They had each other, now. Even if they would be separated by distance, they all had each other. They had created a little family for themselves, and they all knew that come tomorrow, that wouldn't change. 

One of the counselors brought a guitar with her when she arrived, and encouraged everyone to sing along with her, which they all did. 

When she put it down, Kevin nudged Chuck's arm. "You should go see if you can use it." he whispered, grinning at his friend. 

 

Chuck stared back with wide eyes. "No way, man. Singing for you guys is one thing, singing in front of everyone else is another. I-I... There's no way." 

"You'll never get over your fear unless you try it, Chucky." Harry added. 

"No." 

It took a few more moments of convincing, but Chuck finally gave in, and shyly walked over to the girl. She enthusiastically handed it over, and all eyes fell on the small boy. Chuck stared at them all like a deer caught in the headlights, and wiped his palms on the sides of his jeans. "Oh boy," he whispered, clearing his throat. "H-Hi, I'm Chuck, a-and if it's okay with everyone, and Mr. Singer, I-I'd like to play a couple songs for you guys?" He looked over at Bobby hopefully, thinking he'd shoot him down, but the older man just shrugged, not seeing a problem with it. 

It took him another moment, but he did finally start to play. 

_ Somethin' so invitin'  _

_ First thing in the mornin',  _

_ I'm as equally frightened by the end of the day _

_ I got sand in my pockets _

_ It kinda weighs me down _

_ But I'm happy, and lonely, and free _

_ There's just one way that I need to be _

_ I took what you said and I put it on its feet _

_ This is the day, just let it beat _

_ Like the heart goes _

Chuck was a huge hit to everyone. It was a huge relief to him that they didn't boo him, and it gave him the confidence to get up and sing for a little longer. 

When they were all heading back to their cabins for the evening, every single person that was there came up and congratulated him. It made Sam feel good, seeing how happy all the praise made his friend. He clapped the smaller boy on the shoulder and congratulated him himself. "You did awesome, buddy. I'm proud of you." 

"Th-thanks, Sam." Chuck stuttered, unused to having this much attention on him. "It kinda made me feel like an actual rockstar. 

"You  _ are _ a rockstar, Chuck. Someday, you're going to be selling out venues and have tons of girls after you." 

He thought about it for  a moment, and a blush settled onto Chuck's face. "That wouldn't be so bad, honestly." 

Sam just laughed. "No, it wouldn't, buddy." 

They got back to their cabin, got changed, and settled in for the night, both happy and sad to be leaving the next morning. There were promises of weekend visits, and week long trips over fall and winter breaks - hopefully with the others, too - and made sure they had their right information to add each other on their various social media accounts when they got home. 

They said their goodnights, and that was that. 

****************

"Maybe they're not coming." Kevin yawned, standing up from his spot on the ground to stretch. "Maybe they didn't know it was today, and we'll be stuck waiting here on our own. End up like  _ Lord of the Flies. _ "  

 

"That wouldn't happen," Inias assured them, opening his eyes and staring at Kevin. "The remaining staff wouldn't allow it." 

"Nah, we're gonna be stuck here." Sam played along. "End up having to learn how to hunt, form a cult, and worship worms as our gods when we all go insane." That got everyone laughing, and Sam was about to open his mouth again when he heard a horn honking. He looked up, a grin lighting up his face when he recognized the car as his mother's. "That's my mom! You'll all get to see my mom!" 

He stood up and waved her over excitedly, unable to wait to introduce her and Dean to all of his friends. 

Mary pulled the car over and barely got a chance to get out before she was attacked in a hug by Sam, followed by a quick introduction to all of the guys. Before pulling away, Mary handed Sam a $50 and whispered “This is your winnings from the bet.” Then it was Dean's turn to say hello. He gave his little brother a one-armed hug, and said waved to everyone. 

"Someone else is here to see you too, Sammy." Dean grinned, the back door opening to reveal Castiel. Dean stared at the other man with such adoration that it almost made Sam want to make a comment. But he figured there would be plenty of time for that later on. He waved hello to his brother's boyfriend, and headed over to talk to him for a moment while Mary and Dean were continued to be mobbed by his friends. 

"So... You and Dean, huh?" He asked, a smile lighting up his face. 

Castiel hesitated for a moment, his eyes falling on Dean's back, then turned to Sam. "Yes, your brother and I decided earlier in the summer that giving us a shot might not be a bad idea." 

"I'm glad, honestly." Sam replied, his eyes falling to his friends. "Dean needs someone like you, Cas. You keep him going. He needs that sometimes." 

“Yes, he does.” Castiel agreed, shooting a look over Dean’s way and shooting him a little wave when he looked back.

A moment later, Dean pulled away from the group and standing beside Castiel. “What’s up?” 

“Nothing,” Cas answered. “I was just saying hello. You didn’t have to come over.” He leaned against Dean, shutting his eyes for a moment while the older Winchester wrapped his arm around his boyfriend. 

“Oh! Dean!” Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the money he’d gotten from Mary, handing it to his brother, and grinned. “I’m paying you back for camp. 

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Where the hell’d you get this?”

 

“That’s not important. But,” he dug around again and pulled out a $20 leftover from camp and handed it to Castiel. “That’s for being so patient with him.” 

Castiel just stared at the money in his hand for a moment and giggled, pocketing it and hiding his face in Dean’s shoulder.

If he were being honest, he couldn’t have asked for a better reunion with his family, and he was touched they  _ all  _ rode out together to pick him up, but he wished that Gabriel were there with them all. He couldn’t help but wish for one more surprise. One more person to be there to greet him. 

He made his way back into the group, easily falling back into the conversation with his mother and everyone else and trying to get his mind off of his thoughts. 

Kevin was in the middle of trying to get through the story of Chuck punching Luke in the face when Sam felt a pair of arms wrap around him, followed by a kiss on the shoulder. He turned around, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw who it was. 

Gabriel smiled up at him, the sunshine making his eyes even warmer than they usually were. "Miss me, kiddo?" 

Too excited to formulate a real response, Sam leaned down and pulled Gabriel in for a kiss. 

"I'm gonna take that as a 'yes'." Gabe chuckled, leaning his forehead against Sam's. "Missed you too, Sammy." he wrapped his arms around the taller boy's middle and closed his eyes, having about one more second of peace before the two of them were thrust into the middle of the conversation, and be teased by all of their friends. 

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Gabriel started once things quieted down again. “First off, I need to say that I’m sorry for how I left.” 

Sam shook his head, trying not to look as embarrassed about it as he felt. “No, it was stupid of me to say that. I shouldn’t have said anything about it, it was dumb an--” 

“ _ Second  _ of all,” he continued, cutting Sam off, “I need to tell you that I love you too, Sam.” 

Sam’s mouth opened again and he almost started another apology, but that confession stopped him in his tracks. “Wait, you do?” He asked. 

“Yes I do. And I should have told you sooner, but I really, really do, Sam.” Gabriel wrapped his arms around Sam again and leaned against the taller boy, closing his eyes and glad that it was finally out.

He could feel Sam release a relieved breath, and Sam pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I’m glad, because that’s not about to change.” 

_____

They ended up staying there and talking until everyone's parents had come and gone, just to make sure everyone got picked up and wouldn't be there alone. 

 

Sam barely let go of Gabriel the entire drive back, still in disbelief that he was  _ there _ . Apparently, he'd gotten in contact with Mary within the first week of him being home, explained who he was, and that he had an idea. They'd been planning it since then, and Gabe had drove down to Lawrence early that morning to go with everyone. Sam honestly couldn't believe that he would have done that for him, but he wasn't complaining. After Gabe finished his story, Sam pulled him in for another kiss, whispering a quiet "thank you" as he pulled away. 

He couldn't believe how much that summer had changed him, but he was really glad for it. He didn't think he was out of the woods with his depression; none of them were, and he doubted they ever fully would be, but they all had each other there for support when things got bad, and they always would. 

Sam shot a quick glance over at the boy beside him and squeezed his hand. That was something else he was grateful for. As much as he hated him at the beginning of the year, he was so thankful that he had Gabriel there for support. As long as he had Gabriel by his side, he thought there wasn't anything he couldn't do. 

 


	10. Epilogue

It was nearing the end of October when Sam had his next downswing. He'd just gotten home from a weekend trip to Chuck's, and it felt so good to see his friend again, to have company around the whole time, that coming home to an empty house was suffocating. 

 

A couple of the guys had relapses since getting home, but for the most part, they were all okay. A couple of them had managed to go see each other during the harder times, and that really helped a lot, knowing they all had that support. Being able to see each other gave them a reason to keep going until the weekend. 

 

The routines were still the same after he got back from camp, and all of them had fallen back into them so easily, it was almost like he'd never left. The only difference this time, was that Castiel was around twice as much as before. 

 

They were told that John wouldn't be home by the holidays, as they'd previously thought, and Sam hadn't been able to talk to his father at all since getting back. He knew he wouldn't probably be able to until Thanksgiving at the earliest - and that in and of itself was a huge 'if' - and he had to admit, that stung. As much wrong as their dad had done, he still loved him, and he still missed him while he was gone. 

 

Since getting back, Sam had tried to make more of an effort of seeing Adam and being involved in his life some. It turns out, he was actually not that bad of a kid, and being able to say he was an older brother of someone so much like him made him happy, and Adam was just glad that Sam and Dean didn't hate him. 

 

That, of course, didn't stop it from being quiet a lot of the time when he got home from school. It didn't stop the late shifts, rushed dinners, and the loneliness that crept back up on him after coming home, and sometimes, it still really bothered him. 

 

Of course, if he wanted to break some of the silence, he could talk to Gabriel on Skype any time he wanted. His boyfriend was always more than happy to see him, even if Sam didn't always feel up for talking. Just seeing Gabe was enough to make him feel better sometimes. 

 

He figured he would, eventually, not only for that, but because he missed the older boy. The last time he'd seen him was the weekend before school started - the first time Mary had let him spend the night there - and he was dying to spend some real time with him again. They Skyped with each other two or three times a week, and at least sent a text or two to each other every day. It was Gabriel's senior year, and Sam knew he was even busier than usual, but they managed to fit in time when they could. 

 

Sam lay on the couch, staring blankly at the TV, and tried to chase away the heaviness in his heart. There wasn't a reason for his newest downswing, he knew, and that made him feel even worse. All he felt like doing was sleep, and he could feel his irritation at the world growing with every passing minute. 

He lay still for awhile, drifting in and out of a nap, when his phone rang. He reached for it, checked the number, and felt instantly better when he saw who it was. 

"Hey," He smiled, sitting up. 

"Hey yourself, handsome." Gabriel replied, and Sam could almost see the smile on his face. "What're you doin' for Halloween?" 

Sam shrugged. "Probably nothin'. Dean's going to a party with Cas, and Mom has to work. I'll probably just hang out, pass out candy, or watch a movie or something. What're you doing?" 

Gabriel was quiet for a moment, and Sam could hear him tapping something on a hard surface. "What would you say if I said I had a free weekend, and I would be more than happy to spend it with my boyfriend, even if he is lame and just stays in watching movies on Halloween?" 

Sam's smile grew even bigger, and he actually stood up. "I think that would be great. And if you want, I'll let you steal some of the candy from the bowl when nobody's looking." 

"You make it sound so heavenly." Gabe chuckled, his own excitement growing. "What time should I get there Friday?" 

"I'll have to ask Mom, but if you leave right after school, I'll help you with homework and you can eat dinner here with us." 

"See, Sammy? This why it pays to date nerds. They're always more than willing to help you with your homework. I'll have to make sure to do something nice for you when I get there." 

 

Now it was Sam's turn to laugh. "How about this: After Trick or Treat, you take me out for ice cream, or a milkshake, then when we get home, you let me pick the movie?" 

Gabriel huffed dramatically and stalled for a moment, trying to mess with Sam some. "I /guess/ that's fair. But I get to pick where we get the shakes from." 

"Sounds good. I'll see you this weekend. I love you, Gabe." 

It still felt weird hearing Sam say that. They hadn’t said it out loud much - after how long it took for him to say it back, Sam was scared to say those words. Gabriel hated that he’d done that to him; if he’d only been given a couple extra seconds, he would have said it right then. Still, though, he knew it was true, and nothing would change that. Trying to think of what to reply with, Gabriel finally decided on the most honest answer he could think of: 

"I love you too, Sam." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic wouldn’t have been possible without the help of so many people, and I would like to take a moment to thank them all for their support through this whole ordeal - you are all incredible. 
> 
> I would first like to thank everyone who had a hand in being a beta through this whole thing: Christy, McKell, Lydia, Ashlee, Itch, Cheyenne, CJ and Kelly.   
> Without you guys, this fic would probably not be HALF as good as it is. Thank you for taking the time to sit through this and point out flaws, and weak points, and correct my spelling and weird sentence structure during late-night writing sessions. I owe all of you so much. 
> 
> I would like to send a HUGE thank you to my friend Kylie, for talking to me, and helping me come up with an ending after months of panic. This probably wouldn’t even be finished without you. I LOVE YOU, AND I OWE YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. 
> 
> To my artist: Nentendostrickster - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PICKING THIS FIC TO DO ART FOR! YOU ARE SUCH A NICE PERSON, AND I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT WHEN I FOUND OUT I WAS PICKED. THE ART IS INCREDIBLE AND I THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH. 
> 
> I want to send a special thank you to my friend Christy, aforementioned, for being my final beta, and listening to two weeks of “CAN YOU HELP ME EDIT PLEASE?” You’re a trooper and I appreciate it so much. I owe you so many betas in return. I LOVE YOU. 
> 
> Special thank you goes to Kelly for making sure Chuck was everything he turned out to be. 
> 
> I want to thank my mother for her support, and listening to my ranting about this fic for over a year and a half, and for reading it in the beginning stages and promising that I had a good story here. You are also a trooper. Thank you, Mom. 
> 
> I want to thank everyone in the Dicklings Skype group for listening to me panic over this for months on end, read bits of writing, and give opinions. 
> 
> To Itch, who inspired me to keep going with promises of mutilation if I didn’t finish it. 
> 
> To EVERYONE who read this in the early stages, or offered inspiration or encouragement. I couldn’t have done this without you. You guys are the real heroes here <3
> 
> Even though they will never see this: THANK YOU TO LOUDEN SWAIN, FOR KEEPING ME CALM THROUGH THIS WHOLE PROCESS, EVEN THOUGH LISTENING TO THEM WHILE WRITING INSPIRED MORE SINGING THAN ACTUAL WRITING. 
> 
> And last but not least - I have a huge thank you to everyone (Ashlee) who sat in on the original Ernest Goes to Camp stream, and to the late Jim Varney for making such a wonderful movie  
> . Without you, there would BE no fic. Thank you to listening to me go through the whole movie with an idea and support this idea.   
> I love all of you so much, and your support means the absolute world to me. Thank you to everyone who, however miniscule, had a hand in making this fic what it is. And thank YOU for taking the time to read it <3


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